


The End

by 00HD



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Everything is taken slowly, Feeling jams, Flashbacks, Gen, John is confused, Multi, about a lot of stuff, awkward love, so many feelings, the War ship is back
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-10 00:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 24,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2003823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00HD/pseuds/00HD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Game ends, two trolls and five of the kids are still alive, and the game hasn't reset like they thought it would.<br/>But when the War ship John spent three years on appears and apparently has a plan, it turns out that everything isn't over just yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The War Ship

Seven.  
That’s how many of them survived the end of the Game.  
Kanaya, Rose, John, Gamzee, Dave, Dirk, and Roxy each stood on the battlefield, not daring to breathe. There had been a theory that when they finished the Game and beat the Main Boss, the Game would reset, and everyone would be sent back to their own timelines, and those who died would come back.  
So they waited. They crept towards each other, looking around, waiting.  
Suddenly it hit everyone. Some cried, some shook, some just stared at their feet.  
The Game wasn’t resetting.  
Rose and John sobbed bitterly. Kanaya wrapped her arms around her human lover, and John just sat down on the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest and sobbing into them.  
Roxy and Dave shook in their shoes. Roxy had a hollow empty expression on her face. She took the Rouge of Void mask off of her face and stared down at it as it lay, lifeless in her hands as if she was expecting something from it.  
Dave just turned his back on everyone. Dirk wondered vaguely if he was crying. He would never know. Dirk wasn’t going to lie, he was shaking as well.  
He’d never see his Bro again. Dave was not his Bro, Dave was… Someone else who looked like his Bro. Dave wouldn’t see his Bro either. Dirk had heard from one of the trolls that Dave’s Bro was murdered by Jack Noir.  
Gamzee just stared at his feet. He glanced over at the sobbing form of John, and did something Dirk wasn’t expecting. He went over to John and put his hand on his back.  
John was too busy crying to notice or care (or at least that’s what Dirk thought). Dirk looked at his group of seven, and his jaw tightened. What were they going to do? “So…” said Kanaya, still holding Rose “It appears that the Game isn’t going to reset. What are we going to do?”  
No one had the strength to answer.  
“I guess… I guess we’ll have to stay here,” said Dirk hoarsely “Build houses’ n ’shit. It seems like the safest place. There aren’t any imps or anything here.”  
“I suppose that would be a good idea,” said Kanaya “But what abou-- What the hell is that?”  
Dirk whirled around and he had no idea what it was either. It was a ship, more specifically it was a War Ship.  
A golden flying war ship.  
It was flying lazily through the air and drifting in their direction.  
Everyone else looked up to see what it was.  
John’s face lit up. He jumped into the air and flew at the ship.  
“John!” yelled Rose, pulling away from Kanaya “What are you--”  
“I got him,” said Dirk jumping into the air “John! What the fuck are you doing?! Come back!”  
John ignored Dirk, and flew up to the ship, he ran his hand over the bow and grinned. He turned back to everyone  
“Guys! This is the ship Jade, Davesprite, and I spent three years on!” he said happily. Dirk had heard about that journey, but he didn’t get why John was happy to see the ship.  
“Dude, that’s nice and all, but--”  
“No, you don’t understand!” said John “Jade was the only person who could power this thing! It’s a Game construct now!”  
Dirk wasn’t sure how John had come to this conclusion. That and Dirk knew jade wasn’t the only person who could power the ship, she could power it because she was the Witch of Space.  
The ship itself was still moving, it was headed for the group on the ground. It looked like it was going to land just in front of them.  
“Just watch,” said John coming over to Dirk. They flew back to the ground, and watched as the ship did exactly what Dirk thought it would do.  
Wow… The Game did something predictable for once.  
Weird.  
“See?” asked John. A latter unfolded itself from the deck of the ship down to the ground. John looked at everyone expectantly. Gamzee, surprisingly walked over to John, and nodded at him then climbed up the latter.  
John smiled and followed the troll, soaring up the side of the ship. He looked back and beckoned the others to follow.  
“It’s not like we have a better plan,” said Kanaya defeatedly.  
Dirk sighed. He did not like this plan, but agreed to it cautiously. The remaining group members clamored up the latter and onto the deck of the ship. John was showing a scarily placid Gamzee around the deck, pointing things out and talking at a rapid pace.  
As soon as everyone was on board and safely away from the edge, the ship lurched, sending everyone sprawling.  
“What the fuck?!” cried nearly everyone. Everyone stood, and saw that the ship was taking off.  
They all ran to the edge of the boat and saw they were already above the trees.  
“Where’s this thing takin’ us?” cried Roxy, backing away from the edge. Everyone looked over at John.  
“Why’re you guys looking at me?” he asked  
“It’s your ship, John,” said Rose.  
“That doesn’t mean I know where it’s going!” he said “And besides, does it really matter where it’s going?”  
Did it? Really? It wasn’t like they had anything to do anymore, so Dirk guessed it didn’t matter.  
“I suppose not,” said Kanaya, coming to the same conclusion “You might as well show us around this ship, John.”  
“Right!”  
John led everyone enthusiastically into the ship, babbling about something or other. Dirk guessed that talking non-stop was how John dealt with…  
With…  
With the all the loss everyone had just suffered. John led them down a hallway of stairs, and to a door at the end.  
“Alright,” he said looking back at everyone, his hand on the doorknob. He twisted it and shoved the door open.  
Dirk wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but he knew this wasn’t it. The inside of the ship was extremely roomy and cozy at the same time. The walls were painted with a light yellow, and the floor was completely carpeted. It was like he just stepped into someone’s living room instead of a War Ship.  
There were pictures on the walls, though none of them had frames, and were all pinned in place with scotch tape and red tacks.  
There was a kitchen as well, it stood off in the right corner behind a bar with three wobbly-looking stools. It was kind of a small kitchen, there were cupboards and a fridge, a sink and an oven, and of course a microwave. But that was it. There was barley enough room for four people to squeeze into it.  
The place looked well used and well loved.  
“Oh man,” said John nostalgically “it looks exactly like it did when we were here! That ugly pink couch is still there too!” he laughed, pointing at a fuchsia couch that sat in the corner. It was a pretty ugly couch. Everyone wandered around, looking at the furnishings and the pictures.  
Dirk was most interested in the pictures. They were mostly of John, Jade and… weird orange bird Dave?  
“Is this you man?” asked Dirk, nudging Dave in the side ad pointing at the orange Dave  
“No, dude,” he said “That’s Davesprite. He was stuck on here with Jade and John.”  
“Oh,” said Dirk. Did Dave sound bitter? Nah, Dirk was probably imagining it. He looked at the rest and saw there was also a weird blue-clown-lady. She looked nice though. There was a photo of her and John hugging and he wondered vaguely who the lady had been.  
“Well, should I give you guys a full tour or do you want to explore on your own?” asked John.  
“I would rather explore by myself,” sad Rose hollowly. Dave nodded in agreement. Everyone else just didn’t care.  
“Alright,” said John looking only slightly disappointed “have fun!”  
And everyone split up to nurse they’re broken hearts and explore the ship.


	2. Wandering Photos

Dirk was walking down some unknown hallway.   
There were pictures on these walls as well, but these ones were landscapes of planets he’d never seen before.   
One was of a sunset on a planet dyed black and blue. There were lakes with a strange kind of black water in then, and weird neon blue mushrooms. The clouds were grey and stormy, with small lights floating around them. The rocks were a deep navy blue and as the sun set on the planet it cast a lovely purple glow on it. It was a beautiful shot. Dirk wondered who took it.

Another photo was of a bright neon planet with bright yellow clouds and multicoloured rain. The shot was of the ocean, and a bunch of strange purple turtle creatures who were swimming in a ‘V’ pattern like geese out into the open water.

The next photo was set in a very hot looking planet. The shot was of a lava-fall, and on either side of the falling molten rock were gears. The lava bounced off the gears and mechanisms and dripped down the poles and wires. The sky was a deep grey, and deep black shadows were cast in every direction from the light emanating from the lava.

The next photo did have someone in it, and Dirk recognized it immediately as John. He was sitting with his back to the camera once again on the blue planet. Prospit was rising above him, making him look like a shadow.

There were more pictures, but those were the ones that stuck out in Dirk’s mind as he passed them in the hall.  
He’d have to ask John who took those shots. As we walked he passed several doors, and part of him wanted to see what was inside. He backtracked to the first door and opened it.

“Oh god, this room is a mess,” he said wrinkling his nose. It was someone’s bedroom, he knew that much. The bed (if you could call it that) was a huge nest of torn up clothes and blankets. There was a desk in the corner and on it were turntables and two cameras plus a few photos. There were strings of photographs around the room hanging from the ceilings. Dirk couldn’t even see the floor, there was so much crap on it. He backed out and shut the door. He guessed this was Davesprite’s room, he also supposed that cleared up who took the photos.   
He didn’t know Dave was such a good photographer.

Behind the next door was a small bathroom. It was just a bathroom it wasn’t very big or grand. It was just a bathroom, but Dirk noticed there were three towels hanging on the rack by the shower, and toothbrushes and toothpaste on the sink.

He left the bathroom and proceeded to the next room.

Said room was also a bedroom, roughly the same size as the last one. The bed was shoved into a corner, he blanket was skewed out of place, and one of the pillows lay on the floor. There were various prankster items on the floor and on a dressed that sat in the opposite wing on the room. There were some crappy movie posters on the wall and a weird chest with stars on it.  
This was obviously John’s room.   
Dirk smiled, this kid had the worst taste in movies.

He shut the door, and wandered to the next door. Behind this one was another messy as fuck bedroom. There were dead houseplants littering every available surface except the bed. Dirk figured they’d died from dehydration. There were various stuffed animals strewn across the floor along with some clothes. There some pictures tacked to the walls beside the bed, featuring John, and Davesprite.

Dirk’s throat closed up. This was Jade’s bedroom.

Jade had always been very kind to everyone. Dirk had always kind of liked her, she reminded him of Jake, but she was a little less of a prick.  
Dirk chuckled, shutting the door. He wiped his eyes, they were sweating again.

Stupid eyes.

A metal fist had closed around his heart when he’s thought about Jake. He shook it off. Think about something else, he commanded himself.  
Dirk moved further down the hall, coming to a conjunction. It looked like a Rec Room, there was huge TV and some video games littered the floor. Plates and the TV remote lay side by side, it looked like someone had been eating cake and watching a movie.

Dirk looked up, he could go left to right. De went left and found two more doors, then the hallway stopped. One door was a bathroom, and the other was a very neat and tidy bedroom, but also a very empty one. The bed was neatly made, and beside it was a round nightstand with a photo of John on it and a lamp and that was it.  
This must’ve been the blue clown-lady’s room, concluded Dirk, shutting the door. 

He wandered back into the Rec Room. There were some photos on these walls as well. Some had little captions written on strips of paper underneath them.  
There was one photo of Jade and Davesprite holding hands on the bow of the ship with their backs to the camera and underneath it read:

Dave and Jade’s first actual date :B

Dirk grinned. It was a cute photo. On the back wall there was a corkboard with notes and To Do Lists tacked to it and some more photos.  
Damn, thought Dirk, there are photos everywhere on this ship. He looked at them all, memories caught in film. Some were snapshots of people’s faces just before they got pranked by John, some of them were very intimate moments, some of them were just happy. The photos were filled with smiling faces and good times.  
Dirk wondered what life on this ship was like behind the photos, but he shook that thought off of his mind.

But doing so was a bad idea. Thought of his fallen comrades crept into his mind, and Dirk struggled to keep his pokerface in check.  
“Stop it,” he whispered harshly to himself, rubbing his eyes under his shades. But his words fell on deaf ears, because his tears didn’t stop. If anything they came in thicker. Dirk began chocking on his sobs and shaking. He sat down on one of the chair and just let himself cry.

Might as well get it out now while he was alone, then later in front of others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a lot shorter than the first one >.>


	3. Sleep habits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long ;>.>

After everyone had gathered back together, it was time they figured out who was sleeping where. John led them down the hallway Dirk had originally been down.

“Hey Dave, you can take Davesprite’s room, if you want!” said John, gesturing towards the sprites bedroom.  
“I don’t want his room,” said Dave quietly, this time Dirk was sure he could hear the bitterness in his voice.

“Oh,” said John, a little taken aback “Okay.”

“I’ll take it,” said Dirk, before he could really think about it.  
“Alright,” said John, opening Davesprite’s door “Oh… It’s pretty messy in here! Sorry, he never cleaned his room.”

“It’s fine,” said Dirk. The room wasn’t as bad anymore now that he’d already seen it. He stepped inside, looking around.  
“Make yourself at home,” said John. He walked away, leading the rest away to give them rooms as well. Dirk looked around his new room, ducking under the strings of photos. There was dresser that Dirk hadn’t noticed earlier. He pulled one of the drawers open to see what was inside.  
There were a bunch of golden coloured shirts and a notebook. He picked up the notebook and flipped through it.

The first page said:

 

hey… its not cool to look through a girls diary. i know that its you reading this egbert, dont pretend its not you. you put this shit down or ill go super saiyan on your ass.

 

Dirk grinned. This was a diary. This was his brother’s diary. Dirk stopped suddenly.

No, he thought Dave is not your brother. And Davesprite was definitely not either.  
He flipped to the next page. It seemed the first three pages were fake ones, filled with girly handwriting and the word ‘like’ repeated every three words.

After those three pages, it was used as an actual journal. The entries were all pretty short and quickly written. Dirk had to squint to read Davesprite’s crappy handwriting. He looked at the first entry.

 

so… i found this notebook in my dresser, so i just sorta picked it up. and im going to use it too. so yeah. this is totally a diary.

 

Dirk decided he’d read more later, it didn’t look like Davesprite wrote a whole lot in here. He set it down and wondered around the room. The bed was surprisingly comfortable, despite it’s messy appearance.

Dirk took one last looked around, then swung his door open. When he stepped out, he saw John, standing with his head resting against his bedroom door. Everyone else apparently had been assigned their rooms, and it was just John. His body was tense, and his fists were clenched. It was apparent that John didn’t hear Dirk’s door open. Dirk realized that John was shaking.

Dirk had only seen John cry once, and that was when they figured out the Game wasn’t resetting, and at that time he had been focusing on himself. Now that he could see John fully, he was kind of shocked. John was a very happy person, seeing him like this was very disconcerting.

“Uh… John?” said Dirk softly. John jerked back, his glasses slipping down his nose. He quickly wiped his eyes, and turned to face Dirk his demeanor changing in the blink of an eye.

“Oh! Hey! I didn’t see you there! You like your room? I’m sorry it’s messy! I can help you clean it later!” said John smiling, trying to seem like nothing had happened. His eyes were red and puffy, and his cheeks were stained with tears. Dirk didn’t have the heart to call him out on it.

“Sure thing,” he said, giving John a small smile.

John chuckled “So, you have any idea where this ship might be headed?” asked John, trying to keep the conversation casual.  
Dirk shrugged “I have no idea. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

John smiled “I’m just glad we’re here. It’s nice seeing this old place again, it’s like I’ve come home.”  
Dirk smiled “So, what was it like living on this thing for three years anyway?” he asked. The two of them headed for the living room, chatting idly about some of John’s experiences on the ship. They settled on that dumb fuchsia couch, still just talking.

“So, who’s the blue clown-lady?” asked Dirk “She come with the ship, or what?”  
“Hmm? Oh, she’s my Nanna. She was prototyped with a harlequin and became my Game Sprite,” said John, pulling down a picture of her from the wall and pointing to her. Dirk made a mental note to ask why none of the pictures had frames.

“I wonder where she is,” said John “and Davesprite. I was kind of hoping they’d be here, but I checked all the rooms and they aren’t here.”  
Dirk shrugged “They’re probably fine. Besides, if I know my Bro, he’s probably off doing something badass.” Shit, Dirk cursed at himself. Dave was not his Bro. But John didn’t notice, and if he did he didn’t show it.

“Yeah. I just hope they’re okay is all. I think after all this, I wouldn’t be able to take… To take them being gone as well,” John choked over his words, trembling a little.  
Dirk was silent. He didn’t know Nannasprite, and even if Davesprite was dead the original Dave was alive so it didn’t matter to him. But he wasn’t John, so he had no room to talk.

“But,” said John, perking up a little “I can’t think about that. They’re probably fine, I need to stop worrying about them! I’ve got people to look after now.”  
Dirk admired John’s ability to look on the bright side of things. It was something Dirk himself was never very good at.

“Could yall be a little quieter?” said a raggedy voice from the kitchen. John flinched. Dirk was too well-trained to freak. Gamzee’s head peeked out from behind the counter, looking sleepily at the two humans

“Gamzee?” said John “what are you doing?”

“Tryin’ to get my motherfuckin’ sleep on,” said Gamzee, rubbing his eye.

“In the kitchen?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Gamzee you can’t sleep in the kitchen!” said John exasperatedly

“Why the motherfuck not?” asked the troll.

John stuttered for an answer “B-Because you can’t! Do you not like your room?”  
“I don’t wanna sleep near the others,” said Gamzee “I’ll wake ‘em all up.”

“Why?” asked John.

“Without my recuperacoon, I’m gonna wake everyone up from the nightmares,” said Gamzee, yawning “the only reason Kanaya ain’t gonna wake any motherfucker up, is ‘cause she’s got her matesprit. And ‘cause my motherfuckin’ Moirail is dead, I ain’t gonna be able to get my motherfuckin’ sleep on.”  
“Well… Uh… You can sleep in my room if you want,” John offered shyly.

Gamzee’s face lit up “Really?”

John chuckled “Sure!”

Gamzee jumped up, and ran over to John, who squeaked in surprise when Gamzee threw his lanky arms around the human and hugged him.  
“Thanks motherfucker!” said Gamzee grinning wildly “Uh… Where’s your room?”

John chuckled “Down the hall, second door to the right.”  
Gamzee threw John another toothy grin then dashed down the hall.

“I feel like a parent,” said John, smiling.  
“We’ll be parents together,” sighed Dirk

“No homo, man,” said John.  
“I know bro,” said Dirk “it was a joke.”

“Ah… Right,” said John, rubbing the back of his neck “anyway, I should probably go and make sure Gamzee didn’t get lost.” John stood, and bayed Dirk good night before sauntering down the hall. There was another thing Dirk admired about John, his kindness. Dirk would not have let that troll sleep within six feet of him, much less his room. 

He knew how violent he used to be, and frankly the troll kind of creeped him out.  
Dirk looked around the living room, sighed, then went to bed.


	4. Ramen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we see some conflict.

John meandered into his room, peeking around the door. His room was empty.  
“Did Gamzee get lost?” he said to himself, frowning

“No, motherfucker.”

John jumped out of his skin. He turned around and found Gamzee standing behind him.  
“Jesus, you scared the crap out of me,” breathed John, smiling at the troll.

“Sorry motherfucker,” said Gamzee, grinning lazily. He went around John and into his room. John followed, only slightly regretting this offer.  
Gamzee curled up on the floor, making him feel kind of guilty.

“Here,” said John, he passed Gamzee a pillow and pulled a blanket out of the closet, and handed it to the troll.  
“Thanks motherfucker,” said Gamzee, snuggling into the blanket “this is motherfucking awesome.”  
“Sure thing,” said John “if you need anything else, just say so.”

Gamzee grinned his toothy grin, and rolled over.  
John hopped into his bed, fully clothed. He didn’t feel like changing. He took off his glasses and fell asleep.  
{---}{---}{---}

When John woke up, he was on the floor with Gamzee, who was hugging John in his sleep.

“Oh shit,” said John quietly. He was blushing a bright red, and he tried to wiggle out of Gamzee’s hug without waking him. When he finally got free, he covered Gamzee with the blanket and silently left the room.

It was early. No one else was awake yet, which was okay. John was an early bird, he always woke up before everyone else. He brushed his teeth and hair, then went into the kitchen. In his rush, John had left his glasses in his room.

He was practically blind without them. Everything a messy blur, but thankfully he knew this ship well enough that his feet knew exactly where he was going.  
When he found the kitchen, he worked his way into the living room, and then to that awful couch.

“You’re up early.”

John jumped, he looked over, and saw that Dirk and Rose were both up. Or at least he thought it was them. He was pretty sure it was them. Dave wouldn’t be caught dead without his aviators, and John could recognize Dirk’s hair anywhere.

“Well, I usually get up this early,” said John

“John,” said Rose “where on earth are your glasses?”  
“Trapped in my room with a sleeping Gamzee,” joked John

“So you did let him sleep in your room?” said Rose  
“Uh… Yeah? Why?” asked John. He could tell that Rose and Dirk looked at each other, but he couldn’t tell what face they had made. John wondered how Rose even knew about that, but he figured Dirk told her.

“You do realize he could go crazy again and kill you, right?” she said delicately.

“What? No he wouldn’t!” said John. It had never even crossed his mind that Gamzee could revert back to a crazed killer.  
“All I’m saying John,” said Rose “is that you should be carful. Can you at least promise me that?”  
John nodded “Yeah… I guess so.”

“Thanks,” said Rose “now then, go fetch your glasses, I want to know how to navigate your kitchen.”  
{---}{---}{---}

John had retrieved his glasses, and began showing Rose where everything in the kitchen was.  
“The utensils are in this drawer, and the pots and pans are down there,” said John, pointing to the cupboard under the counter “the knives for chopping vegetables and stuff are over by the oven, and the cups are over the sink.”

“What’s in here?” asked Rose. She threw open one of the cupboards above the counter.  
“Food, but it’s probably all bad,” John looked in over Rose’s shoulder. To his surprise, all of the food looked good still.  
Dirk looked over “wow… You guys had to figure the codes out for all of that stuff?”  
“Yeah,” said John “is all of this stuff still good?” he pulled an apple down and took a bite

“John!” cried Rose “That could be infected with something!”

The apple, to John amazement, was still good. He grinned, “Guys, I think everything’s still good!”  
“Seriously?” asked Dirk

John continued munching on his apple, and looked in the fridge as well. All the food they had in there was also good! The vegetables were still green, the milk hadn’t turned into cheese, even the cheese was still good!

“Is that Ramen?” asked Dirk, peeking in the cupboard.

“It took us forever to figure out the code for that,” said John grinning, “When we finally did we had a huge Ramen Party.”  
Rose chuckled “why don’t we make for breakfast?”

John grinned “On it!”

“You can cook?” asked Rose “when did that happen?”  
“Well,” said John “when it was time to eat, we used to switch off on who did the cooking, so I had to learn. Even Davesprite knew how to cook.”  
This fact surprised Rose so much she actually cracked a full-fledged grin and threw in a chuckle to boot “I didn’t know that any incarnation of Dave could cook. I wish I’d met this Davesprite.”

John smiled “Hehe. Yeah,” he began getting the Ramen ready, throwing everything together and soon the three of them were munching happily on Ramen.  
“So John,” said Rose “what was it like living on this ship, anyway?”

John thought for a moment “Uh… It was nice. We did a lot of crazy things, but it was fun, and hanging out with Jade and Davesprite was fun! Although when he was here I just called him Dave. And Jade called him Dave Sprite, like Sprite was his last name,” said John smiling “so sometimes we would call him Mister Sprite. He hated it though, it was hilarious.”

Rose and Dirk listened to John tell them about some of the ‘crazy things’ that he, Jade, and Davesprite did. Some of them really were crazy. Apparently Jade accidently uprooted the oven and shrunk it, and she and John freaked out trying to get it back to normal.

Dirk listened rather absently. He had spaced out staring at John (of course John couldn’t tell). When Dirk realized what he was doing, he mentally slapped himself.

Stop staring at John, he told himself.

What, it’s not like he can tell you’re staring, nagged another voice in his head.  
Dirk grimaced. Oh boy. He was arguing with himself again. This never ended well.

I don’t care if he can’t tell. No staring at John.

You just feel guilty.

Shut up.

Because he looks like Jake.

Shut. Up.

And you think he’s cute.

SHUT IT!

“Um… Dirk?”  
Dirk looked up and saw both Rose and John were staring at him.  
“You alright?” asked John “You hunched over and started glaring at the table. Is everything okay?” John asked, looking worriedly at his friend.  
Dirk gulped “yeah, I’m fine,” he said “just fucking peachy. I’m going to go take a shower now,” he said standing. He put his bowl in the sink and slunk off to the bathroom.

John looked at Rose “Uh… Do you really think he’s okay?” he asked.  
Rose only half heard John. Her brain was busy calculating and doing her therapistic stuff on Dirk’s behaviour.


	5. Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk realizes things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa what?!  
> Two updates in one day?! What is this craziness?!

Dirk threw his shades onto the counter jumped in the shower, clothes and all. Right at this moment he didn’t care, he needed to figure some stuff out. He turned the warm water on, and sat down on the floor of the tub, letting the warm water run over his face and back. 

He sighed, holding his head in his hands.

He didn’t want to think about this, it felt awkward. He felt someone would know what he was thinking. He needed to figure out if he actually liked John, or if he was projecting Jake onto him.

Which was not okay.

It was an insult to John and to Jake’s memory.  
So the first question that came to Dirk’s mind, was what was different about John that Dirk liked? Wait… Did he actually like John? That was the first thing he needed to deal with.

John was nice, and he was cute. Dirk grudgingly admitted that. The voice in the back of his mind was happy, and it pissed Dirk off.  
Okay, so he found John attractive, but he also found Jake attractive. Dirk felt guilty again. Goddamn it, why did John have to look like Jake?! But there were differences between them.

Jake was… for lack of a better term… Sexy.

John, while he had his moments, was more cute than anything. Okay… Scratch that. He was fucking adorable. Dirk blushed a little bit, and it wasn’t from the heat of the shower.

John, now that Dirk thought about it, also looked a little different from Jake as well. Jake was much more muscle-y and he was taller. His jaw was much more defined and he was much tanner than John was well. John was short and pale. His face was a little rounder than Jake’s and he was practically a stick compared to Jake. And of course his eyes weren’t the same forest green as Jake’s, they were deep ocean blue.

He wasn’t very strong, or (Dirk mentally apologized to John for this) incredibly smart, and all he liked were bad movies. But he cared about everyone, he was always putting on a brave face, and all he wanted to do was help everyone even when he knew he couldn’t.

Dirk thought that all of John’s pranks were hilarious, even when they failed or were incredibly lame. He loved his goofy smile and the way he half giggled and half snorted when he laughed. He loved the way he practically danced when he was excited, and the gleam he’d get in his ocean eyes when a good prank idea crept into his mind.

Dirk gave up denying it.

So I guess you really go like John, said that voice again; I told you.  
Dirk grinned and buried his face in his knees, letting the water run over him while he tried to suppress a laugh.  
{---}{---}{---}

When Dirk got out of the shower, he had a huge smile on his face that he was kind embarrassed by because no matter what he did it wouldn’t go away.  
“You look chipper,” said John smiling his damned adorable smile “I assume you had a nice shower?”

Dirk suppressed a laugh “yep,” he said simply, not trusting himself to say anything else.

Rose gave him a knowing smile, and Dirk had a feeling she knew exactly what Dirk just realized, and he wasn’t sure if he should be terrified or glad. He sat down next to her, leaning back and sighing.

“So,” she said conversationally, shifting a little and placing her hands on her lap “You’re being very… Open.”  
Dirk smiled, putting his hands behind his head “I haven’t a clue as to what you’re talking about.”

Rose smiled “Of course you don’t.”  
{}{---}{}

John was looking for Gamzee, he was kind of worried about the troll, he hadn’t seen him since he woke up this morning.  
“Gamzee? Are you awake yet?” asked John as he poked his head in his room. He found Gamzee still sprawled on the ground, the blanket only covering his stomach. His arms were thrown over his head, and his mouth hung open, a little bit of drool rolling down his cheek.  
John sighed. He walked over to Gamzee and lightly shook his shoulder.

“Gamzee? Gamzee, it’s time to-”

Gamzee’s eyes shot open, but instead of the normal yellow they were a dark orange. He shot up, grabbing John by the wrist and forcing him down. There was a sickening crack that reverberated around the small room. Gamzee’s face was contorted with rage, confusion and fear. He snarled violently down at John, baring his sharp teeth.

John shrieked from the pain, and went down “Gamzee! GAMZEE, STOP IT! WAKE UP! GAMZEE!” John’s voice was high-pitched from the pain in his wrist. He tried to get away from Gamzee, but his grasp on John’s wrist only tightened.

Gamzee suddenly looked horrified, he let go of John’s wrist and his eyes reverted back to yellow. He backed away from John, pastel purple tears pricking his eyes.  
“I’m sorry motherfucker,” he whispered in a horrified voice.

John sat up, holding his wrist, it felt broken, but he couldn’t tell. He looked up at Gamzee, “No man, it’s fine. Gamzee are you-”  
The door was thrown open and Kanaya stood there with had her chainsaw running her hands and Dirk with his katana. They looked both worried and pissed. Kanaya ran at Gamzee, her chainsaw pointed at his chest. Dirk ran to John, looking him over.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you? John, look at me!” said Dirk, taking John’s face in his hands. John didn’t notice that Dirk was blushing a little.  
“Kanaya! Stop! He didn’t mean it!” John tried to escape Dirk’s grasp.

“John, calm down,” said Dirk, trying to sooth the boy, but it wasn’t working. John ducked under Dirk’s arms and around Kanaya’s chainsaw.  
Gamzee was staring in fear at Kanaya and her weapon, but John came in between the two of them. Gamzee kept his eyes trained on Kanaya.  
If looks could kill, the look Kanaya was giving Gamzee would have killed him by now.

“Gamzee, calm down,” said John softly, taking Gamzee by the shoulders “Just breath. C’mon, do it with me.”  
John took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out through his mouth. Gamzee turned his attention to the human in front of him. His pastel tears were still flowing down his cheeks, and he struggled to breath in time with John.

Gamzee pulled John into a hug, clinging to him like a small child. He sobbed and wept into John’s shoulder, shaking.

“I’m sorry…” he choked out.

John rubbed Gamzee’s back with his good hand, and told him it was all right.  
Kanaya stepped back, bringing the chainsaw down.

Dirk glanced at her, she looked pissed.  
“You good?” he asked quietly “you looked about ready to kill him.”  
“I was,” Kanaya stated, changing her chainsaw back into a tube of lipstick and putting it back in her captchalogue and leaving. Rose and Dave were standing at the door, they had heard the commotion and had come running.

Dave looked half horrified and half confused, while Rose just looked scared. When Kanaya got to the door, Rose pulled the troll down into her arms.  
Dirk captchalogued his katana as well. There was a slight twinge in his chest when he looked over at John and saw him hugging the crying form of Gamzee.  
This jealous bullshit is not going to fly, Dirk thought to himself. He looked away and walked toward the door, feeling like he was intruding on something private.

“What happened?” asked Dave

“I dunno, but Gamzee flipped his shit and attacked John,” said Dirk.  
“Then we’re not leaving,” said Dave “I’m not leaving my bro alone with a killer clown.”  
Dirk was in silent agreement, and the two stood at the door, waiting for John to finish calming Gamzee down.

Gamzee sat up from John, rubbing his eyes.  
John looked at Gamzee, and smiled at him “Are you okay?”  
Gamzee whimpered out a small “yeah…”

“Good,” said John softly. They fell silent, and Gamzee dried his tears on his shirt. He tried to smile at John, but it looked more like a grimace.  
“I’m sorry, motherfucker,” he said in a quivering voice “I didn’t mean it… I-”

“I know Gamzee,” said John “I know, just calm down. Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UUuuuugghh... Angst.  
> ;_;


	6. Broken Wrists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter, but the only reason is because of the chapter that follows it.  
> If that makes any sense.

For the next few days, you couldn’t find John without Gamzee behind him. The troll followed John practically everywhere. 

It turned out that Gamzee accidently broke John’s wrist when he attacked him, and it seemed like the only person who forgave him was John. Rose seemed to have semi-forgiven him, but she still blamed him for hurting John, Dirk and Dave were far from forgiving him, because no one hurts their bro, And Kanaya never forgave Gamzee for anything.

This brings us to Dirk. He had been thinking about John a lot, but at this moment the boy was out of his thoughts. Dirk hadn’t seen Roxy in five days. The last he’d seen of her was when they boarded the ship. Dirk had searched the place top to bottom for her, and couldn’t find the blonde anywhere! He finally decided to ask John for help.

“Did you check the basement?” asked John, who was sitting on the couch with Gamzee.  
“This thing has a basement?” asked Dirk

“Yeah! Well, it’s actually the engine room but we just call it the basement!”  
And by ‘we’ he meant him, Jade, and Davesprite. Dirk swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.  
“Alright, could you show me where it is?” asked Dirk.

“Sure!” John stood, and Gamzee did the same, “you should probably stay up here, man” said John quietly, turning to Gamzee “it’s pretty cramped down there, you wouldn’t like it.”

Dirk felt his heart soar. He silently begged Gamzee to nod and sit back down. And Gamzee did just that. He nodded at John, and curled up on the couch.  
“I’ll be back, okay?” said John smiling at Gamzee.

Gamzee nodded, and the two humans walked down the hall.

Dirk internally punched the air.

“I really hope Roxy isn’t in the basement,” said John in a worried voice  
“Why?” asked Dirk “It’s just an engine room, right?”

“Well… I guess you’re right. But the alchemiter’s down there, so I hope it’s not too cluttered,” said John.  
Dirk had been wondering where they’d stored that thing. None of the rooms were big enough to hold it. John led Dirk into the hallway leading to the Rec Room, and when he came to the middle of the hall he suddenly stopped, and Dirk bumped into him.

“Oops! Sorry, I should’ve given you a warning that I was stopping!” chuckled John.  
“Nah, it’s fine,” said Dirk. It really was.

“Anyway, the door’s right there,” said John pointing at the floor. Sure enough, there was a small square that rested just above the floorboards. Dirk wondered how no one ever tripped over that thing. “Uh… would you mind getting it for me?” he asked, holding up his broken wrist “it’s pretty heavy, and I don’t think I can get it one handed.”

“Oh yeah,” said Dirk, moving around John. He got down on one knee and pried the door from the floor. John hadn’t been kidding, this thing was heavy as fuck! When he finally got it open, Dirk looked down and saw a flight of stairs leading down further into the ship.

“Alright! Down we go!” said John descending the steps.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” said Dirk  
“It’s fine,” said John “Besides, I want to help you look for Roxy!”  
Dirk smiled “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime!”

Dirk had to duck his head to keep from hitting it on pipes and other weird doo-hickies hanging from the ceiling. It gradually got darker and darker and the hallway became thinner and thinner. It was also getting colder. Dirk shivered in his wife-beater, wishing his had his godtier hat for once.

John was shivering too “Jesus, I forgot how cold it gets down here,” he muttered. They kept going down until they finally reached the landing. It was so cold here Dirk had goosebumps, it could see his breathe, but just barely because there was no light down here.  
“Dark and cold,” said Dirk “fucking miracle.”

“Don’t steal Gamzee’s materiel,” joked John, shivering as well. They wandered father into the basement, looking around for Roxy.  
“Dude,” said Dirk “I don’t think Roxy’s down here. It’s too fucking cold.”

“ROXY!” yelled John “YOU DOWN HERE?!”

There was a rustling sound, and the sound of chinking glass.  
“Roxy?” said Dirk, moving around John too see who or what it was. There was a looming shape in front of him. Whatever it was, it was covered by a thick tarp, and there seemed to be light coming from inside it.

Dirk glanced at John, who shrugged. Dirk grabbed the tarp and yanked it off of…

The alchemiter.   
Underneath it were two lanterns, a small space heater, a blanket, lots of empty wine bottles, some food wrappers, a book, and a sleeping Roxy. She was laying, sprawled out under the blanket on the alchemiter platform, breathing softly.

“Huh?” she moaned, looking up drunkenly at the two shivering boys “what’re you doin’?” she slurred, “close da door… Err… Tarp… you’re lettin’ all the wram air out… Err… Warm.”

Dirk was on the verge of screaming at Roxy. She had gone to her alcohol. Before Dirk could even get a word out, John spoke.  
“Roxy, what are you doing?” he asked softly, he was still shivering, but somehow he was managing to keep his voice stead “how long have you been down here? Where did you get the Alchemiter Code Book?”

Roxy squinted up at John “Johnny? Hiiiii,” she muttered smiling “I been down here sins… sins we got on this boat,” she said throwing her arm up to gesture around her “an’ tha’ Code Book was down ‘ere with tha’ Alkmitteerrrr,” she said, a hiccup escaped her lips as she ended her sentence.

“Roxy, why are you down here?” asked John, who had crawled onto the alchemiter platform with Roxy, he had his one good hand on her back and was talking quietly.  
Roxy took on a sad expression “I don' wanna diss'point Drik wit mah drinkin," she muttered, tears pricking her eyes.

“Too late for that,” muttered Dirk angrily.

John shot Dirk an angry expression then turned back to Roxy “Well, you can’t spend all of your time down here,” said John “You need to come back upstairs.”  
She looked at John with an angry expression “No!” she said angrily “I don’ hafta do an’thing you say, you stupid Jane impister!” she raged. She threw John’s hand off her and pushed him.

John fell back with a yelp. He threw both his hands behind him to catch himself, and landed on his broken wrist. John let out a screech, and pulled his hand back. A few tears fell down his face. John jumped up and ran back, out of the Basement.

Dirk turned to Roxy, who didn’t look sorry in the slightest.   
He grabbed her by the front of her shirt and dragged her forward.

“Roxy fucking Lalonde. If you don’t grow the fuck up right now, so help me I will throw you off this ship and into space myself. You hear me?” he snarled.  
Roxy looked terrified, she tried to wriggle away from him, but Dirk just strengthened his grip.

“Drik… Leggo!” she said, pushing at his hand

“No! You’re coming upstairs with me. You’re going to sober up and it’s going to be awful an filled with headaches. Then you’re going to say sorry to John because you might have just damaged his broken wrist even more than it already is. After that you’re going to be in therapy with your mom, Rose. Because it’s OBVIOUS that you need help!” Dirk had to force himself to scream. He could feel his blood boiling as he spoke. He dragged Roxy away from her nest and up the stairs.

“ROSE!” He yelled as he got out of the basement “ROSE WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Dirk dragged Roxy into the living room, where Rose and Gamzee were checking John’s wrist.  
“Dirk?! What are you doing?” she asked, looking up from John, who was crying.

Welp.

There went Dirk’s temper.

“Roxy, here,” said Dirk in the most menacing tone he could possibly muster up “is going to stay in your care until she’s sober. You can talk your head off to her, and annoy her to death if you want. I don’t care. I need to work this off.”

Dirk handed Roxy to a startled Rose, and then went to find Dave.  
Dirk pulled his katana out of his Strife Specibus, and stomped through the ship, looking for Dave. Dave, was sitting in the Rec Room going through some of the video games. Dirk marched over to him. Dave looked up to find a raging Dirk looming over him.

“You. Me. Roof. Now,” he growled. Then he flashstepped to the hatched and to the deck of the ship. It was the only roof they had, but it was better than nothing.  
Dave pulled his katana out as well. He would never admit it, but he was excited.

This was just like old times


	7. The Strider Stife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strife!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So short.  
> Oh well!

Dirk and Dave strifed their hearts out. They fought with the same intensity they fought their Bros with. They spoke while they fought, but not with words, and not on purpose. They read each other’s body language. Dave could tell that Dirk was both angry and regretting something by how hard he was swinging his katana. What he was mad/regretting Dave didn’t know.

Dirk took advantage of Dave trying to read him, and feigned a jab to the left. Dave dodged to the right, only to find Dirk’s blade soaring over his head and stopping right at his waist. Dave rammed into it, accidently cutting into his side. He held back a yelp of pain, and ducked under the sword.  
He flashstepped forward, hitting Dirk in the stomach with the butt of his katana. Dirk grunted and fell back, elbowing Dave in the face while he was at it.  
Dave kicked his leg out, hitting Dirk in the shin as he fell.

Dirk released his katana and grabbed Dave, and they fell together. Dirk pushed Dave up, and kicked his over his head. Dave landed on his back, and lay head to head with Dirk.

The two of them lay there, trying to regain their breath.

“Jesus,” wheezed Dirk, rubbing his stomach “did you have to hit me in the gut?”  
“You made me bleed,” countered Dave

“Don’t be such a baby,” said Dirk, laying eagle-spread on the ground and staring up at the stars.  
Dave grunted an insult that Dirk ignored, when a though popped into his head.

“So,” he said “Davesprite.”

Dirk both heard and felt Dave wince a little.

“What about him?

“What’s your deal with him?” Dirk asked  
“There is no deal,” said Dave “he’s me as a golden fucking bird. End of story.”

“Nooo,” said Dirk, sitting up to face Dave. This was the first time they had really ever spoken to one another “when ever he’s mentioned you get all moody, when John brings him up you go dead silent, you rejected him room, and you flinched when I mentioned his name. Why do have a problem with him?”  
“I don’t have a problem with him,” said Dave through gritted teeth.

“Dude, you are so easy to read,” said Dirk “I know you’re lying.”  
“I’m not. Lying,” said Dave flatly, sitting up to face Dirk.

“Yes you are. Just tell me,” said Dirk  
“Why?!” Dave almost yelled it.

“Because…” Dirk knew what he should say, but he didn’t want to say it.  
“Because what?” asked Dave, who was visibly pissed now “Because we’re brothers? We’re not fucking brothers. We’re not even related! You’re just some stupid alternate timeline version of Bro!”

Dirk stared at his not-brother “likewise,” he said flatly.  
Dave sighed and lay back down “but we really are brothers, aren’t we? Like… If you’re Bro met my Bro, they’d probably Bro-hug it out.”  
“And cry,” said Dirk “because both of them lost each other.”

Dave looked over at Dirk. It was true, Dave lost his bro, and Dirk lost his.

They lost each other.

“Nah man,” said Dave “they wouldn’t cry. Their eyes would sweat.”  
Dirk chuckled “yeah.”

They were silent for a while, watching the stars. Dirk didn’t expect Dave to answer his question about Davesprite, and frankly he was okay with that. He didn’t have to. He wouldn’t force him, and besides, they’d had enough bro-bonding time in this one conversation about their eldest siblings.

“I just…” Dave said suddenly “I dunno.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a dumb reason to be mad at someone, that’s all,” said Dave  
It took Dirk a moment to realize that Dave was talking about Davesprite “that’s fine, I get mad at people for dumb thing as well.”

Dave said quietly “I just feel like… John likes him more than me.”  
“What? Why would you say that?” asked Dirk “you’re the same per--”

“No man,” Dave cut in, sitting back up and looking Dirk straight in the face, “we’re not the same person. Just like your Bro and I aren’t the same person. We stopped being the same person when John died the first time. He spent three years with John, he knows him better than me, better than probably any of us will! And John always talks about him and I feel like…” Dave paused, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself “I feel like I’ll never be able to measure up to him, you know? I’ll never be as great a friend as Davesprite.”

Dirk let that sink in for a minute “Oh… Dude… I--” Dirk had no idea how to respond to that. He’d never gone through something like that before.  
“Yeah,” said Dave grinning weakly “I know right? I sound like an anime girl,” he joked “I’ll never be as good as my senpai!” he said in a high, girly voice.   
Dirk laughed and Dave laughed along with him. This was a bad idea, because Dirk moved his bruised stomach too much, and Dave made his shirt rub up against him new cut.

“Ooowwwww,” groaned Dirk, clutching his stomach.  
“Ditto,” wheezed Dave.

“Shit… John’s going to kill us, isn’t he?” said Dirk, trying to stand up.  
“Yeah, probably,” said Dave, grinning.

Dirk chuckled, not trusting himself to laugh “Let’s do this more often.”  
“Agreed,” said Dave.

The two of them went back down into the ship in a much better mood than they had left in. Dirk apologized to Roxy for yelling at her, but making it clear he was still pissed, and Roxy apologized to John for pushing him. She didn’t know his wrist was broken.

John forgave her, but yelled at the Striders for hurting each other, saying that they could have knocked each other off the ship!  
They listened to him yell, and they just grinned through it.

“-- And don’t do it again!” John finished  
“I ain’t making nooo promises,” said Dirk, shrugging.

“I have to agree,” said Dave “I gotta take my young, teenage angst out on someone.”  
John threw his arms up in the air “you two are going to kill each other,” he said shaking his head and walking away.  
“That’s probably true,” said Dirk.

“Yep,” Dave agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! A non-angsty ending!  
> What took you so long, 00HD? We've waiting for this since the beginning of this fucking fic!  
> WTF?!


	8. Davesprite's Journal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Journal

One night, boredom happened. It was just for Dirk, though. Everyone was asleep by now, and Dirk was still wide-awake. It was day seven of being on this ship. No one had any idea where they were going still, but no one seemed very worried about it. 

Dirk suddenly remembered Davesprite’s journal in the dresser. He jumped up and snatched it out of the drawer. Reading material was reading material, and it was better than just lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. He flipped it open to a random page and started reading

 

day 20  
so.... jade and i started dating. this is so awesome…. im dating a god… that’s pretty awesome  
im not even sure how that even happened, we were just on the deck of the ship and suddenly we were together  
soooooooooo weird.

 

Dirk chuckled, so Davesprite and Jade were a thing, huh? That’s pretty sweet. He flipped to the next page and continued.

 

day 30  
we all got hair cuts today. John pronounces scissors like skissors, hes such a fucking dork.  
*eye roll*

 

Dirk shook his head, still smiling, Davesprite was weirder than the actual Dave.

 

day 35  
welp… it finally happened. egderp and i kissed.

 

Dirk stopped dead in his reading. There was more in the entry, but he couldn’t bring himself to read it. Davesprite had macked on John at some point. Dirk’s brain felt kind of numb. 

This was an actual thing that happened, this was canon.   
Oh jesus fucking christ this was fucking canon.

Dirk pushed the journal off his lap and on to the floor, then kicked it under the dresser. He didn’t want to be in Davesprite’s room anymore. He crept out, in only his pajamas and went into the living room.

This fucking sucks, he concluded. My fucking brother his macked on John. WHYYYY?!   
Dirk’s brain was starting to hurt a little, so he curled up on the couch and tried to think of anything but the image of Davesprite and John kissing.

It didn’t work.

He flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Fuck you Davesprite, Dirk thought to himself. He was pouting now, and it was very degrading but he felt since no one was looking it was okay.

“Dirk?”

Said human flinched and sat bolt upright to see who was talking. It was Rose. She was standing in a white nightgown that came to her knees, in the middle of the hallway. She looked like a ghost.

“Oh! Hey,” said Dirk “what are you doing up?”  
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said “I had a nightmare, and Roxy kept kicking me in my sleep.”  
“Hehe. Sorry,” said Dirk grinning.

“It’s nothing, I just needed to get up,” said Rose “now the real question is, why are you up?”  
“Um… I dunno,” lied Dirk.  
Rose raised an eyebrow “Is this about John?”

“Uh…”

“Did you kiss him?”

“What? I--”

“Did he kiss you?”

"No, I--"

“Did Dave kiss him?”

“ROSE! Jesus, will you let me talk!” cried a blushing Dirk. She smiled at him, raising an eyebrow.  
“Yes, go right ahead,” she said, walking over to sit beside him.

Dirk explained about Davesprite’s journal and how he’d been reading it when he got to a certain page about John.  
“What did it say?” asked Rose

Dirk didn’t feel like saying it out loud, so he ran back to his room to fetch the journal. When Rose had read the page, she looked up at him “did you bother to read the entire entry?” she asked  
“No,” grumbled Dirk “my brain was too numb.”

“Well, it says here that Davesprite and John kissed because he needed practice. Apparently he felt that, and I quote ‘jade deserves a good kiss from someone who knows what theyre doing’.” She stated.

“Seriously?” asked Dirk “so it was for practice?”  
“Yep,” said Rose, closing the journal and handing it back to Dirk “so don’t flip out. But you should know,” she said “Dave used to really like John, and not just in the ‘bro’ way.”

Dirk stared at Rose “why did you feel the need to tell me this?” he asked, “I didn’t want to know that!”  
“Because,” said Rose “Dave is a great deal more sensitive than he lets on. You can’t get mad at him for this,” she said gesturing at the journal “Davesprite spent a lot of time with John, which may have rekindled his feelings for him. So if Davesprite ever says he likes John, that doesn’t mean our Dave does.”

“So you’re saying that whatever Davesprite does, I can’t blame Dave for it?” asked Dirk  
“Precisely,” said Rose “they are two different people, Davesprite and Dave. You ought to treat them as such.”  
Dirk nodded “I think the people on this ship don’t give you enough credit,” he said smiling “you’re a pretty rad therapist.”  
Rose smiled softly “I try.”

“I guess we should get to bed,” said Dirk, stretching “we’ve been up way too late as it is.”  
“Yes, this is probably true,” agreed Rose, “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“It’s not like we have anywhere else to go,” joked Dirk  
“Yes, I suppose not.” Rose gave him a quick hug, then stood and walked back to her room. Dirk watched her go, sighing a little. 

Wherever this ship was going, Dirk didn’t mind if it took it’s time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I love the ending.  
> But that's just me ^^


	9. Dream Bubbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is extremely short, and I'm sorry.  
> But it has to be short.

The next morning, Kanaya gathered everyone together, saying that she had something important to discuss with everyone.  
All the humans and trolls gathered in the living room, still in their pajamas, and still rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

“Good morning everyone,” said Kanaya, who was the only one standing “I assume you all slept well?”  
There was a general grumbling of ‘good morning’s and ‘it’s too early for this bullshit’s.

“I’ve gathered you all here to discuss something that I have only recently noticed, and I doubt anyone else has yet to discover, aside from maybe Rose.”  
Everyone stared expectantly at Kanaya

“Has anyone noticed we haven’t gone through a single Dream Bubble since we got on this ship?” she asked. Everyone thought for a moment. It was true. A milky-eyed person hadn’t been seen in over a week, and no one had noticed.

“But… What does that mean?” Piped John, who was now very awake.  
“I don’t know. When you spent your three years here, John, did you run through Dream Bubbles?” asked Kanaya  
“Oh yeah,” he said nodding, “all the time.”

“I hate to say this,” said Kanaya “Hell, I hate to even think about this… But I think that… Since the Game has ended… All the Dream Bubbles have popped, so to speak.”  
A chill fell on the room. In the back of everyone’s mind, there had been a hope they were clinging to. That maybe… Just maybe, everyone was still alive and milky-eyed living in the Dream Bubbles. That perhaps they would all run into each other. If what Kanaya said was true, that meant that everyone was gone.

Really gone. As in, never come back gone. Double death gone. Cleared from the Game gone.

“But wait,” said Dirk, trying to keep the fear out of his voice “the Dream Bubbles were a Game construct right?” he asked, Kanaya nodded “and this boat is moving because of the Game, right?” or at least that was the theory.

“Yes. Dirk, what are you suggesting?” asked Kanaya  
“Maybe all the Dream Bubbles are still out there? I mean, if the Game is still controlling this boat, why would it kill all the players? We’re still alive after all, maybe everyone else is too!”

“What is the chance of that?” asked Kanaya “before now the Game had no qualms about killing off players, why would it start caring now?”  
“Because we won,” said Dirk hopefully “remember? The Game has a promise to its winners to fulfill.”

“Yes, but they didn’t win,” said Kanaya “we did.”

Dirk fell silent. Everyone began processing what Kanaya just said.  
“So… Does this mean that… That everyone’s gone?” It was Roxy who spoke up this time, her voice was quiet, and her eyes were wide and glassy “that we’re never gonna see them again, ever?”

Her voice was so fragile it sounded like it was going to shatter any minute.  
Kanaya sighed, looking at Roxy. Green tears were pricking her eyes “Yes. I believe so.”


	10. Bubbling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comforting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about you guys, but I am SO ready to stop writing angst, but I have to.  
> IT'S ALL PART OF THE SCRIPT /shot/

No one felt like talking that day. The ship was silent, and cold. There were practically no signs of life. No one talked, no one moved, no one ate, no one breathed above a whisper. Dirk was sitting on the deck of the ship, watching sullenly as the stars passed.

And he hated them. He hated the way they glinted at him and he hated the way they could just be in space without a care in the fucking world.

He was still in his pajamas, he’d never bothered to change. It didn’t matter. All he could think about was Jake and Jane. He’d never see them again. He’d never hear Jake’s loud, obnoxious laugh again and he’d never see Jane’s baby blue eyes. He’d never taste her amazing cooking, and he’d never strife with Jake for real.

Dirk pulled his knees up to his chest.

He’d never see his Bro. He’d never see his home. Hell, he’d never see his home planet again. This Game was awful. He hoped no one ever had to play it. He buried his face in his knees, forcing himself not to cry.

He failed miserably, as tears rolled down his cheeks. He shivered and shook, choking down sobs. He tried to stay cool and only succeeded in making himself cry more. He wanted to scream, but he wasn’t going to let himself.

After all, the Beta kids had a lot more to cry about. There were sixteen of them when the Game started, and there were five of them left.  
Dirk heard a sound behind him, he turned and saw John opening the door.

“Huh? Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know you were up here,” said John “I’ll just--”  
“No man,” said Dirk, wiping his eyes “it’s cool.”

John nodded, stepping out and closing the door. He walked over to Dirk and sat beside him, letting a shaky breath escape his lips.  
To be honest, it was hard seeing John like this. It was so… Different from the cheery person he was. The lack of goofy smile was unnerving, and the dull pain in his eyes was almost heart breaking.

“You know what I just realized,” said John suddenly “My entire family has been killed because of this Game.”  
Dirk didn’t know how to respond. He wanted to hug this kid, or pat him on the back, or something! Something to help him. Anything!

“My dad, my sister, my nanna,” he listed their names off on his fingers. He sighed, resting his head in his hands “I just want this Game to be over.”  
Dirk hesitantly placed his hand on John’s back “Yeah,” he said quietly, patting his back ever so slightly “me too.”  
John was quiet for a moment before saying “Dirk, where do you think this ship is going?”  
“Honestly?” asked Dirk

“Yeah.”

“I have no idea.”  
John looked up from his hands, giving Dirk the most pathetic look he’d ever seen, “I know, but just guess.”  
Dirk felt a fist of guilt wrap around his heart “Um… Maybe it’s taking us to the new planet,” he suggested.

"You think?"

“Yeah, I mean… Where else do we have to go?”  
John shuddered a little “Yeah… Where else.”

“So… When we get there, or get to wherever we’re going… What do you think we should do?” asked Dirk.  
“I think… I think we should all stick together,” said John, he was beginning to tear up, and his voice was quivering “and I think we should all grow up together, if any of us can still grow because, you know. We’re gods and all. I think we should travel and make up dumb stories and just be a family.”

John was crying now. His face was flushed a light pink and his eyes were screwed closed. His hands were balled into fists and Dirk could feel him shaking.  
“That… That sounds like a great idea,” he said softly, willing himself not to cry as well. Dirk finally gave in to his instincts, and pulled John into a hug. The boy jumped a little, but didn’t pull away. He sobbed into Dirk’s shoulder, and Dirk rubbed his back, trying to sooth him.

John took in a sharp breath to try and calm himself down. He pulled away from Dirk and smiled at him.  
“Thanks… For this,” he said, wiping his eyes “I- I need to go find Gamzee. He probably needs me right now.” John stood, and walked back to the hatch and descended back down into the ship.  
{---}{---}{---}

As John went back down into the ship, he realized there was a weird feeling bubbling in his chest. It was hard to describe, and it was both pleasant and kind of painful. His mind wandered back to Dirk, he felt himself blush a little. He’d have to figure out another way to say ‘thank you’ for comforting him like that. He felt his blush deepen.

Wait… Why was he blushing? John tried to shake it off, and put his mind on other things, but for some ridiculous reason his mind was hell bent on remembering Dirk’s warm arms wrapped around him.

Fuck. No… Stop it brain, John thought, now is not the time for that.

John put Dirk out of his mind by looking for Gamzee. He needed to find the troll, the two of them had been spending a lot of time together, and John felt like he owed it to Gamzee to help him through this.

He peeked in his bedroom, and sure enough the troll was lying on John’s bed, curled up in the blankets.  
“Gamzee?” said John quietly, he opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind him and walking over to the bed “it’s me, John. Are you alright?”  
Gamzee practically flew out of the bed, and grabbed John, pulling him into a hug.

“Whoa!” John almost fell backwards from the force of the hug, but Gamzee’s feet were planted firmly on the ground.  
“Hey motherfucker,” he said into John’s shoulder.

“H-hey!” John stammered, “Are you okay?”  
“No,” he said hoarsely “no. I feel like I just up and lost my Moirail all over again.”  
John tentatively wrapped his arms around the troll as well, “I know,” he said.

Gamzee sniffled, and just hung in John’s arms “I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” he muttered, his voice cracking a little.  
John thought about suggesting what was running through his mind, but he felt like seeing as Gamzee felt like he’d lost Karkat all over again, it was probably a bad suggestion.

Gamzee pulled back from the hug, looking down at John. John smiled at the troll, who gave him a bittersweet smile in return.  
“You know what we should do?” said John “We should watch 'Mean Girls', in honour of Karkat. He was always trying to get me to watch that stupid movie and now I feel like I have to.”

Gamzee showed off his toothy grin “that sounds like a motherfuckin’ great idea, motherfucker.”


	11. Strife and Mean Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brothers strife

Something silently passed between John and Gamzee, and everyone noticed it. The two of them began hanging out more and more. You could rarely see one without the other. Eventually, after almost everyone asked them what the heck was going on between the two of them, they announced that they had become Moirails.

This kind of upset Dirk. Just a little. He remembered what a Moirail was, and he knew that they were strictly platonic soul mates, but goddamn it was almost impossible to get some alone time with John anymore. And Gamzee was beginning to piss him off. He was pissing Dave off as well, the poor dude couldn’t get any bro time with John anymore.

Every time Dirk would talk to John, Gamzee would give him this look. He never gave it to anyone else (well… He gave it to Dave but he and Dave hated each other), just Dirk.

After a while, Dirk and Gamzee began glaring at each other when ever they were in a room together, whether John was there or not. If fact, if Dirk ever was alone with John, Gamzee would materialize out of nowhere, and just hang around.

“Daaaave,” groaned Dirk, resting his head on Dave’s shoulder “I need a strife.”  
Dave chuckled “Yeah, alright. Roof, in three minutes.”

An hour later, the two brothers (they had finally given up denying it and started referring to each other as brothers) were patching themselves up from said Strife.  
“So,” said Dave, prodding at a bruise forming on his knee “you and John, huh?”

“It’s not me and John,” said Dirk, wrapping a cloth around a cut on his upper arm “it’s me, wanting to be with John.” He didn’t even bother to deny it. A silent understanding had passed between Dave and Dirk, what was said after a strife was never repeated. These talks were private; brother-to-brother.  
Dave pulled his knees up to his chest “I used to like John.”

Dirk looked up from his arm “seriously?”

“Oh yeah,” said Dave “I had the girliest, most ironic, coolkid-falls-for-dweeb crush ever.”  
“Was it just for irony?” asked Dirk “or was it real?”

“It was real,” said Dave, stretching out, with his hands behind him.

“What happened?”

“Oh you know,” he said, waving his hand “the Game, the three year voyage, Terezi. I just… I dunno. I got over it.”  
“Sorry.”

“Why? It’s not like you did anything,” said Dave “and besides if I did still like him, he and I would already be together.”  
“Bullshit,” said Dirk flatly

“Pfff. You wish,” teased Dave “you’re just jelly ‘cause you know it’s true!”  
“Again, bullshit,” said Dirk “coolkids don’t get jealous.”

Dave grinned, “I’ve got proof, though,” he taunted.  
“Really?” asked Dirk in a sarcastic voice “this proof you speak of sounds like… Wait for it… Bullshit.”

“It’s not,” said Dave “I heard from a certain source that a certain version of me kissed mister Johnathan Egbert.”  
Dirk was silent for a minute, staring blank-faced at his brother, who was still grinning. He was going to kill Rose for that.

“You, dear brother,” said Dirk in a scarily calm voice “are a complete asshole.”  
Dave fell backwards cackling, while Dirk returned to bandaging his arm. It took Dave quite a while to calm down before he could talk properly.  
“I fucking told you,” he said, still laying down “if I still like him, I’d already have him under my arm.”

Dirk rolled his eyes “whatever.”  
Dirk returned to his arm, but lost interest.

“would you ever start liking him again?” he asked suddenly, looking up at Dave  
“Eh. I doubt it,” said Dave “and even if I did, he’d probably go for the sprite version of me.”

Dirk winced. The painful thing about that statement was that it was true. If john ever were to fall for his best friend, it would be for Davesprite.  
“I admire your honesty,” said Dirk.

“Thanks,” said Dave in a toneless voice.  
The two were silent for a minute, watching the stars.  
“Do you think…” Dirk started “Never mind.”

“What?”

“Do you think he’d ever go for me?”  
Dave laughed, “You sound like a fucking anime girl!”

Dirk was not amused, and showed it by using some very colourful language and hand signals  
“Jeez! You don’t have to swear at me,” said Dave grinning 

“I was asking for your honest opinion, asshole.” Said Dirk flatly  
“Sorry,” said Dave shrugging “you’ll always only get some Strider Shtick.”

“Just answer me,” growled Dirk.

Dave laughed for a bit before he could calm himself down enough to get proper words out “Alright, alright!” he turned to face Dirk, he looked at him for a moment, thinking over his question “Well… For a long time Egbert’s claimed heterosexuality. Of course, no one believes him so I supposed there’s a possibility,” sad Dave “but if he ever did come around, I don’t really know. I’m not the one who spent three years on a war ship with him.”

“Auuuugghh!” groaned Dirk, falling onto his back “You’re so useless!”  
“-- But not for long, the Future, is coming on, is coming on, is coming on,” sang Dave

“Shut. Up,” groaned Dirk

“You wish.”  
{}{---}{}

John and Gamzee were watching Mean Girls again. They found themselves watching it a lot, it felt like the only connection to Karkat they had. Gamzee had thrown his arm around John, who was dozing off. He hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night, Gamzee had a horrible nightmare and John had to calm him down. He had been up all night to keep the troll calm, whispering words of comfort to him.

He felt himself slip into the usual daze of sleep, just as the guy dressed as Santa Claus came into the classroom.  
John had a very… Confusing dream to say the least. He dreamt that everyone who had died were all together in one Dream Bubble, and that they were waiting for them to get there.

He dreamt that even their parents were there, and that they were waiting as well. Everyone was milky-eyed, and battle scarred, but ‘alive’.  
When John woke up, we was crying. It was the most bittersweet dream he had ever had, and it made his gut twist painfully.

He wished that was the case. He wished that everyone was in the same Dream Bubble, and that they would pass by and that he would get to see Jade, and Karkat and his Dad again. He wished it were true, But he knew how unrealistic that was.  
And he cried into Gamzee’s shoulder, just letting his emotions pour out of him like water from a can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUUUGGGHHHH FUCK YOU ANGST!  
> NOBODY WANTS YOU HERE!!!


	12. Do the Stomach Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings Jam with a Mister Dave Strider

For a while, John noticed that whenever he was in a room with Dirk, he would find his eyes drawn to him. He didn’t know why, and he was trying to figure out why, but whenever he thought on it he’d blush and it just confused him more.

He thought about doing a Feelings Jam with Gamzee about it, but he felt like this was private. Maybe he should talk to Dirk about it? No… that would be embarrassing.  
Dave maybe. John felt like he could confide this in Dave, his old-time bestie. John scurried through the ship, asking where Dave was.

He eventually found him lounging on the counter in the kitchen.

“Hey, there you are!” said John grinning.  
“Hey egderp,” said Dave waving.

John walked over to him and jumped up onto the counter as well “I need to talk to you. I--”  
“Oh Egbert, I knew you loved me!” Dave cried melodramatically, throwing his arms around John.  
“Bluuuuhhhh get off me Dave!” Cried John, laughing as we said it. John wriggled out of Dave’s grip, giggling the whole way.

“Jeez, Egbert,” said Dave “you sound like a girl.”

“Oh shut up,” said John “I’m here to open up to you and you just reject me! I’m so wounded!”  
“What about your Moirail?” asked Dave. John swore he heard a little bit of resentment in his voice “Aren’t you and him supposed to do a Feelings Jam for this sort of thing?”

“I wanted to talk to you though,” said John “Because, you know… We haven’t in a while.”  
Dave would be lying if he said that didn’t make him feel a little guilty “Yeah, alright,” he said, masking his guilt perfectly “what is it?”

John told him everything, even though he did feel embarrassed about it.  
“Dude you’re falling for my brother,” said Dave flatly.

“What?! No I’m not!” cried John blushing  
“Yes you are,” said Dave “those are the symptoms of totally liking someone,” said Dave “you look at them a lot, they’re on your mind a lot, and you get that painful twisting feeling in your gut that’s like a towel being wrung out by the hulk, only six times more painful.”

“Stop. Babbling,” said John, blushing hard “I am not falling for him! I’m not a--”  
“Don’t you even say it Johnathan Egbert,” warned Dave, glaring at his friend “You might not be a homo, but you’re defiantly stridersexual.”

“What? That is not a thing!” cried John  
“Yes it is, John,” said Dave “it is a thing and you are cock deep in it.”

“Ew, Dave,” said John, cringing a little

“It’s true,” said Dave “you’ve got it bad for a certain spiky haired blonde!”  
John gave up denying it, it wasn’t true! Wasn’t it? No! It wasn’t! Auuugh! Stupid Striders and their stupid advice!  
“John, it’s fine if you’re bi,” said Dave “I mean c’mon, you’re in a fucking Moirailigance with Gamzee. That’s a form of romance, bro. Whether you like it or not, you’re already in a gay relationship.”

John’s jaw dropped “Would you shut up!? It’s not even like that!” he cried.  
Dave cackled “omigod Egbert! Shut up, you’re only making this worse for yourself!”

John blushed and fumed at the same time “I knew I should have just confided I Gamzee.”  
“Too late now,” said Dave, clutching his stomach “Seriously though, you’re probably just bi.”

“I’m not into Dirk,” said John, blushing again.  
“Your blush says other wise,” said Dave, raising an eyebrow.

John gave up “Okay! Fine, let say maybe I might possibly be into Dirk. Now what?”  
“You go up to him and sweep him off his feet,” said Dave “and kiss him all slow and passionately.”

John’s blush (which was already at a dangerous tomato red) deepened to a dark red cherry colour “you are so gross.”  
“You know you want to,” taunted Dave, waggling his eyebrows.

“No I don’t!” whined John.

Dave was being a complete and utter asshole, and he was loving every minute of it. “Yes. Yes you do.”  
John hid his blush in his hands “stop it Dave.”

Dave chuckled “just go tell him!”  
“No! That would be awkward and what if he does like me? He probably doesn’t anyway.”

Dave was about to tell John that, yes. Mister Dirk Strider did like him. But he remembered that everything said between him and Dirk in their after Strife talks was private and wasn’t to be repeated. So he reluctantly shut his mouth.

“I dunno,” said Dave “just go ask him.”

John mumbled something, still hiding in his hands. Dave couldn’t take this. Dirk and John needed to get together before he exploded from the sexual tension that was blocking out all the air in this stupid war ship.

“Well, this was a good talk,” said Dave, patting John on the back and hopping off the counter “have fun with your newfound feelings of gayness.”  
John whimpered, and Dave had to hold back a laugh as we went to go find Dirk and inform him of the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest, I love the ending.  
> I'm so excited to write the rest of this I'm going to explode.


	13. Professions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for all the awkward guys.  
> ALL.  
> THE.  
> AWKWARD.

“Omg Dirk you’ll never guess what I found out today,” Dave gushed over dramatically, throwing his arms over his brother’s shoulders.

“Dave, what are you doing?”

“Guess!”

“Guess what?”

“Guess what I found out today!”

“I dunno, what?”  
“Gueeeeesssss!” Whined Dave

Dirk groaned “Um… You’re secretly the gayest bitch in Paradox Space? I don’t know! What?!”  
Dave whispered in Dirk’s ear “John totes like you back.”

Dirk’s face went bright red, and he dropped whatever was in his hands at the moment (which happened to be a mug of coffee).  
“Wh-- Wait… Did you tell him I--”

“No man,” said Dave, letting go of Dirk and running around to face him “that shit is sacred. He told me he likes you!” Dave almost squealed it. This is what it must be like to be a teenage girl, he concluded. He was so excited he felt like he could explode. 

He was the Match Maker.

It was him.

He was making this happen.

“Go profess your love!” he was so close to yelling from excitement “go! GO!” he turned Dirk around and pushed him forward, back to the kitchen, where he assumed John was still lurking. Dave pushed Dirk into the hallway leading to said kitchen, and he peeked his head in and sure enough, John was still in the kitchen, leaned up against the counter, looking flustered and kind of confused, his square glasses slightly askew.

“What? No! Wait… How do I know this isn’t a prank or something?” Dirk asked, stopping just outside the doorway.  
Dave stared his brother in the eye “do I look like I’m lying, here?”

Dirk looked hesitant “N-No…” he said “But… I’m not sure if--”  
“Bro, if do not do this now,” threatened Dave “I will do it for you.”

Dirk’s blush deepened. Dave had never seen his brother so flustered, but at this moment in time he found he didn’t care. He was going to make this happen of it killed him.

“But, Dave I--”

“GO!” Dave pushed his brother forward and into the kitchen.  
{}{---}{}

John whipped around, he swore he heard someone yell ‘go’, but it was just Dirk.

Oh fuck this was the worst time to see him.

“Oh! Hi!” John said, maybe a little too enthusiastically.  
“Hehe… Hey,” said Dirk.

There was an agonizingly long stretch of awkward silence that felt like it lasted for three billion years, until Dirk finally got the nerve to talk.  
“So… Um… What’cha doing?”

(Behind the scenes, Dave face-palmed so hard that his grandchildren felt it)

“Uh… Nothing much, what about you?” asked John, rubbing the back of his neck  
“Uh, just walking around I guess,” said Dirk “and… Uh… Looking for you.”

“Oh really?” asked John, who visibly blushed.

“Uh… Yeah,” said Dirk who was trying to hard to hold back a smile. He walked over to John (well, it was more like a shuffle) and stood face to ace with him.  
“Uh… Hehe… Wh-what is it?” asked John, smiling nervously.

“I… Uh… ikindareallylikeyoualotandithinkweshouldgoout.” Whispered Dirk

“…What?”

“I kinda reallylikeyouandithinkyourecuteholyshitijustsaidthat,” he said only slightly louder.

“Dirk, I have no idea what you’re saying,” said John, who was thoroughly confused  
Dirk leaned in to whisper in John’s ear “dude I have the biggest fucking crush on you would you please go out with me?” he said in one breath.  
John froze, and stared at Dirk as he pulled away, blushing a bright red.

“I… I… Uh… I kinda feel the same way,” whispered John, blushing at the same intensity as Dirk.  
“Holy shit seriously?” asked Dirk, grinning, half from nervousness and half from pure elation. 

“Yeah,” squeaked John in a small voice. He too, was smiling, but it was mostly from nervousness  
“We should date,” said Dirk, taking John’s hands in his own, making John turn an impossible shade of red.

“Uh… Um… If… If we did do that… Would you mind if we took it, like… Super slow?” John asked in a ridiculously tiny voice.  
“I would not mind in the slightest,” said Dirk “I’ve had it so bad for you I don’t even care.”

John smiled a little but “really?”  
“Yes. Really,” said Dirk, smiling brightly.

John smiled, looking down at his hands intertwined with Dirk’s.  
“Um… yes,” said John, turning his Ocean Eyes up to Dirk’s orange ones “I… I’ll go out with you.”

“FINALLY!”

Dirk and John flinched and whipped around to find Dave, Rose, Kanaya, and Roxy standing in the living room watching them.  
“It took you guys fucking long enough!” cried Dave, throwing his arms in the air.

“I think that was the most awkward thing I have ever witnessed,” said Rose, smiling at the two of them.  
“You two are so cute!” squealed Roxy “I have literally been waiting for this since FOREVS!”  
“I have to agree with everyone,” said Kanaya “it took the two of you long enough. I think I knew about your attraction to one another before you did.”

John and Dirk were mortified to say the least

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was smiling the whole time I was writing this.  
> My cheeks are killing me.  
> XD


	14. Joy Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Author can't write a good summary, because said Author is too elated to think properly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too. Much. Fluff.  
> We just went from heart-crushing angst to tooth-rotting fluff.  
> Jesus 00HD, what a transition.  
> And short. Short and fluffy.

For what felt like the first time ever, it seemed like angst had left the building. Or… Left the war ship. Dirk and John were happy, and it reflected on everyone else. Before hand, there had been worry that Gamzee would take John being in a quadrant with Dirk badly (and John could never figure out why everyone thought that, the naïve moron), but in the end, Gamzee seemed to be happy for John, though he still obviously (at least to everyone except John who we established was a naïve moron) didn’t like Dirk. Or any Strider for that matter.

Dave called it the Strider Strike. He was the only one who thought that was remotely funny, everyone else just found it slightly annoying (especially since he would whispered it anytime Gamzee entered the room, and it made everything at least 40% more awkward than things already were with Gamzee).  
Dirk didn’t care. He honestly didn’t care about anything, he was way too happy. The ship could crash into a star for all he cared, he was with the person he most liked right now. So why should he give a shit about anything else? 

Dirk and John spent a lot more time together than ever. Dave would tease them about it, and though it embarrassed John, Dirk just brushed it off and called Dave a prick. Dirk knew why John got embarrassed, this was; A, his first time dating anyone, much less a guy, and B, he was just easy to embarrass.   
Dirk wasn’t going to lie, John was adorable when he got flustered. He’d bunch his shoulders up and hold his arms close to his torso while a slight flush would rise in his face and he would make the cutest faces. It made Dirk internally squeal like a hard-core fangirl.

At the moment, Dirk was venturing into the living room. He wasn’t really going for any particular reason, he was just wandering. A pastime he took part in daily.   
As Dirk past the threshold of the doorway, and his eyes surveyed the room, he saw John snuggled up on the couch, sleeping. He smiled to himself, and took long quiet strides over to where his boyfriend lay.

Dirk would never say it out loud, but calling John his boyfriend made him jittery inside. In a good way. He crouched next to John, resting a hand on his shoulder and gently waking him.

“Hey,” he whispered, “you awake?”  
John’s face scrunched up “Mmm… Why’re you waking me up?” he slurred, trying to move out of Dirk’s reach, and failing.

Dirk smiled “Well, move over then.”  
John scooted over a little bit, making as much room as he could, and Dirk squeezed himself onto the couch as well, laying face-to-face with John.  
John still had his glasses on, and they were crooked and make him look half drunk. His hair was a mess, and Dirk noticed it had gotten much longer.  
He wrapped his arms around John, and leaned his forehead against his.

John, whose eyes were still closed, nuzzled into Dirk (who internally fangirled some more).  
“You gonna get up or lay here all day?” asked Dirk quietly  
“Why? Do you wanna get up?” asked John drowsily.

Dirk smirked “smart ass.”  
“Mmm…” John’s voice trailed off, he was falling back asleep.  
Dirk took off his shade and set them on the floor, then went back to snuggling with John. Soon, he found himself floating off to dream land.  
Ever since the Game ended, everyone had started having normal dreams. You know, the weird ones that often made absolutely no sense and didn’t actually mean anything.

Dirk had a dream about his Bro.

When he woke up, both he and John had rolled off the couch and onto the floor. John was on his stomach, arms splayed out, one over his head, and across Dirk’s chest just under his chin. While Dirk was on his back, one arm under John, and the other on his stomach.  
John was still asleep, and Dirk took this time to just look at John. He studied John’s sleeping face, and noted that John looked much happier and much more peaceful when he slept. There was no worry on his face and it was nice.

But Dirk’s arm was beginning to hurt. Oh fuck, it would go numb soon. But Dirk didn’t want to wake John up.  
Fuuuuuuuck…  
Dirk sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. Well, at least he was with someone he liked. Dirk looked back over at John, sighing. Yeah, at least he was with someone he liked.

Dirk smiled. Fuck Paradox Space, this was the best day of Dirk’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus this chapter is so pointless.  
> BUT I DON'T GIVVA FUCK!


	15. Jealous Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk, calm your shit down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating! I've been busy drawing hella Homestuck fanart!  
> Here's my deviantART account if you want to see some!  
> http://thetimevortex.deviantart.com/
> 
> Sorry, I'm not on Tumblr, so if you want to contact me, It'll have to either be through AO3 or deviantART

There was only one thing that really bothered Dirk about John and Gamzee’s Moirailigance. It was the fact that Gamzee still insisted on sleeping in John’s room, and just recently his bed.

Yep, it was a thing now. It happened. It wasn’t sexual or anything, but it still bothered Dirk. The only reason he knew, was be cause one day (this day to be exact) he went to wake up John, and when he opened the door he found a certain troll laying next to John. Said troll had his arms wrapped around John’s waist, and John was just sort of lying complacently on his side.

Dirk had been so taken aback he actually stared at the pair for a good ten seconds before slowly backing out of the room and shutting the door. H stood outside the room, his back to the door.

Am I jealous? He thought; no way… I can’t be jealous. That’s fucking stupid. Jealousy is sooo stupid. I am not jealous.

Dirk stood there, attempting to convince himself he was, in face, not jealous, and failed miserably.

I’m so fucking jealous, he concluded defeatedly. He slunk down the hall, wishing he wasn’t jealous because coolkids don’t get jealous, and flopped facedown on the couch in the Rec Room, swearing quietly into the pillows.  
{}{---}{}

Rose was going on a short walk. Granted by now she knew the ship upside-down and backwards but she still went on a walk. She was bored and truly had nothing better to do. So when she stumbled upon a quietly swearing Dirk, she was intrigued.

“Dirk… What are you doing?” she asked

Dirk grunted.

Rose rolled her eyes and sat down beside his head “are you sure? I could help, you know.”  
Dirk rolled over, staring up into her bright purple eyes “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Why?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

Rose raised an eyebrow and crossed her legs, lacing her fingers at the edge of her knees, assuming the most therapist-like pose she could “How so?”  
Dirk sighed “Like… If anyone found out I’d never live it down, embarrassing.”

“And If John found out?”  
“I’d do a fucking pirouette off this ship and into space,” said Dirk.  
“Ah,” said Rose “so it’s related to him then?”

“How the fuck did you get that out of me doing acrobats off of this ship?” asked Dirk  
Rose smiled knowingly “I have my ways,” she said, “Now then, what is bothering you Dirk?”

“No,” he said flatly.

Rose poked his forehead “Come now Dirk,” she said mock-frowning “you know if you shove your emotions into a bottle and never let them out you’ll explode.”  
“Then at least I’ll die with my emotions hidden from everyone.”

“Even from John?”

Dirk tensed. He sat up and looked Rose directly in the face “don’t even fucking joke about that.”  
Rose shrugged “I was merely stating the obvious,” she said “I’m sorry if it upset you.”

Dirk sat back, and closed his eyes “I just… Don’t want to talk about it, okay?”  
“Dirk, I doubt it’s half as embarrassing as you think it is,” said Rose, picking at the hem of her shirt.

“Yes it is. It’s embarrassing and stupid and I really don’t feel like talking about it,” groaned Dirk.  
Rose sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose “Fine, don’t take my advice. If you do ever man up and want to talk, you know where I am,” she stood and walked away.

Dirk rolled over, facing the back of the couch. He was just pouting now, like a stubborn school boy. But he didn’t call it pouting, he called it ‘brooding’ even though we all know that exactly not what it is.  
After a few minutes, another person entered the Rec Room.

“Bro, we need to Strife.”

Dirk turned and saw Dave, with Rose standing behind him.  
“I’ve heard from extremely accurate sources that you’re at a dangerous risk of an over-emotional break down,” said Dave in an amazingly serious voice “Strife Time.”  
Dirk wasn’t sure if he should laugh or curse them out, but in the end he accepted the Strife.  
{}{---}{}

John woke up to the sound of pounding on the roof. He blinked groggily, and tried to move but found Gamzee had wrapped his lanky-ass arms around him. John stopped moving, because he was both too tired and he didn’t want to wake Gamzee. But unfortunately, Gamzee woke up from the pounding on the roof as well.  
“What the motherfuck is that?” he muttered, stretching.

John rubbed his eyes and yawned, “I have no idea, but it’s fucking annoying.”

“Mmm.”

Gamzee and John tried to go back to sleep, but the noise wouldn’t go away. If anything it started getting louder.  
“That’s it,” said John, sitting up, not bothering to change into regular clothes.  
“What’re you doing?” asked Gamzee, looking sleepily at his Moirail.

“I’m going to go yell at people,” he grumbled, opening the door.


	16. Pillow Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John + lack of sleep + pillows + anger = pillow to the face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like my production value has gone down.  
> Are these chapters getting worse or are they just sort of the same? I'd like some feedback on that if you please ;_;

Dirk and Dave stood on opposite sides of the deck, swords at the ready. Rose, stood a little ways off, watching the two.  
Dirk struck first, flashstepping forward. His Katana clashed with his brothers and the Strife had begun.

After Dirk’s first strike, Rose couldn’t keep track of what was happening. The two were moving too fast for her to be able to discern what the hell was going on. Which was alright, she was only here to observe and listen to their After-Strife talk. 

It didn’t take long for their Strife to end, there was no need for it to last for too long, and though Rose could see what had happened, it was obvious Dave had dealt some serious damage to Dirk. Not enough to be fatal, but it was obvious that Dirk was way off his game.

“So,” panted Dave, sitting down on the floor “You jelly, huh?”  
“Shut it,” groaned Dirk, flopping down next to his brother.

“Dude, it’s fine,” said Dave “peeps get jealous all the time. It’s nothing new. I don’t know why you’re so fucking embarrassed.”  
Rose didn’t know how on earth Dave had figured out what was going on with Dirk. She guessed perhaps the ‘Strider Strife’ was, instead of a fight, actually a psychic form of communication and was how they actually dealt with their emotions instead of talking? 

She made a mental note to investigate this theory.  
{}{---}{}

As John trudged out of his bedroom, he grabbed two pillows and equipped them to his Strife Specibus… He had an idea.  
{}{---}{}

“Because,” said Dirk sitting up “it’s just… Stupid.”  
“Yeah, a lot of things are stupid,” said Dave “you just gotta-”

Suddenly the hatch leading into the ship flew open, startling all three of the blondes. John jumped out, launching a pillow at Dirk. It hit him square in the face and knocked him flat on his back.

Dave twisted around to face his assailant “What the fu--”  
Another pillow came flying at Dave, hitting him in the side of the head, knocking him down as well. A blanket fluttered over them as they lay, stunned on the ground.

“SOME people are trying to sleep!” cried John. With that he turned and stomped back down into the ship, bidding Rose a quick ‘good morning’ as the door shut behind him.  
{}{---}{}

John marched back to his room, opening the door and flopping down next to Gamzee.  
“How’d it go?” asked Gamzee groggily.

“Mmph. Fine, I just want to go back to sleep,” muttered John, eyelids fluttering.  
Gamzee’s nod went unnoticed, because John had already fallen back asleep.  
{}{---}{}

“Did… Did we just get assaulted by pillows?” asked Dirk in a dumbfounded voice  
“Yep,” said Dave “we just lost in a Strife against Egbert, and all he was using were pillows. We are so lame.”

Rose laughed from where she was standing. Because unfortunately, because John had equipped said pillows to his Strife Specibus, is hits qualified as a Strife, so yes. The famous sword savvy Striders had been beaten, by a dork with pillows.

“Well, since all of this is so conveniently here,” said Dirk “I’m just gonna kinda,” he pulled the blanket over him and rolled over on his side, resting his head on the pillow John so graciously threw at him.

“Same,” said Dave. He, too rolled over, so the two brothers were back to back. Dirk had been up at a ridiculously early time, and Rose had woken Dave up before twelve in the afternoon, so that plus the recent Strife had the two Striders all tuckered out.  
Rose smiled at them, then descended back down the stairs and into the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shitty author writes shitty endings ;_;


	17. Ramen Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheeeeeeeeeeeeyouguysaregoingtohatemeforthiseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
> 
> but just be clear, this: {}{---}{} means perspective change and this: {---}{}{---} means time change.  
> And now you know.

Roxy had only recently gotten sober again. Along the way she’d been cranky and unpleasant to talk to. But since the headaches had receded, and the longing for more alcohol had subsided, she had once again resumed her happy demeanor. Dirk had apologized a hundred times over for yelling at her and getting so pissed, but she just laughed and said:

“Pffff! It’s fine! You scared me so bad it made me sober up!”

It became kind of a running joke after a while. Oh, don’t get Dirk Strider pissed, or he’ll scare you so bad you’ll go sober!  
Rose and Kanaya were glad they no longer had to house Roxy in their shared room anymore. Apparently Roxy snored obnoxiously loud, and kept both girls up all night.

“You’re jus’ sayin’ that!” she said laughing “You’re just pissed ‘cause you and Kan couldn’t makeout while I was there!”  
Rose and Kanaya turned their respective blood colours and everyone else couldn’t help but laugh. Everyone chatted and talked, congratulating Roxy for her new sobriety and such. Once the conversation had quieted down, John interjected something no one had really thought about yet.

“Have we… Ever sat down and all had dinner together?” he asked  
“No… I don’t think so,” said Kanaya “Why?”

“Well… We’ve on this ship for over four weeks now, and…” John paused for a minute, as if he was unsure how to go on “Well… We don’t know how much longer we’re going to be here. We might be here for the rest of out lives!”

Everyone was silent, thinking about this possibility. Everyone who had gone God Tier had thought about the trolls and how they weren’t immortal and would not live as long as they. No one wanted to talk about it, but they knew that all the humans would out live the trolls, remaining the same age even after the trolls died.

If they were on this ship for ‘the rest of their lives’, they would be here for a very long time. Or at least, the humans would be.  
“Why do ya want to do this dinner then?” asked Roxy, tilting her head a little.

“Because, we haven’t yet and if we’re going to be here forever we might as well all have a meal together,” said John.  
Everyone shrugged. They supposed it was a good idea.  
{---}{}{---}

Later that night, everyone came out of their hiding places and rooms to all eat together. No one was sure what to make, since everyone liked different things, so John and Rose just made a huge pot of Ramen.

Everyone gathered in the living room, seated either on the floor or on a couch or chair they had pulled up.  
“Alright, how much does everyone want?” asked John over everyone’s chatter. There was a clattering of voice and silverware as John and Rose dished everyone up. Dirk came in to help as well, not wanting to make Rose and John do it alone. Soon everyone had a bowl of the precious soup-noodle-dish-thing. John shooed Rose off into the living room before she could try to help him clean up.

“I’ve got it,” he said smiling gently.  
“Yeah, and I’ll help him,” said Dirk "make sure he doesn't use all the soap to make Bubblemania."

Rose raised an eyebrow, but didn’t protest. She too her bowl and joined Kanaya sitting on the floor. John threw all the Ramen packages into the trash while Dirk served himself and John a bowl of the soup.

John leaned against the counter, sighing.  
“What is it?” asked Dirk, setting the bowls on the counter.

“I dunno, I just…” He looked at everyone with a melancholy expression on his face “I guess I’m just a little worried is all.”

“Why?”

The chatter from the group in the living room was lively and childish. Dumb jokes and stupid raps were exchanged and there was laughter and smiles. No one really noticed the sad eyes cast on them.  
“I’m just nervous is all” said John “I don’t want to lose them. Or you.”

Dirk felt his chest tighten “What do you mean ‘lose’?” he asked, “Besides, I ain’t going nowhere.”  
“No, I know… I just… I guess I’m just a little scared. We don’t know where we’re going or when we’re going to get there, and… I’m still dealing with… With losing everyone.”

John’s blue eyes began to tear up. He wiped them vigorously to try and stop the tears before they began, but it didn’t work. Dirk wrapped his arms around him.  
“Hey,” he said softly “It’s alright. It’s alright, just breathe.”

John took a shuddering breath into Dirk’s shoulder.  
“We’re going to be fine. No one is going anywhere, alright?” said Dirk, rubbing his back.

John gulped, regaining his steady breathing.

Suddenly the ship jerked violently, tossing everyone around like a bunk of puppets.  
“What the fuck?!” cried Dave (and several others, though they yelled more obscene things). The ship jerked again, sending things flying off the walls and out of cupboards. Plates and cups crashed on the floor, sending sharp shards everywhere.

Dirk and John flew out of the kitchen, so they could avoid the tiny blades of plate and cup. The ship was jittering and jerking, and kept sending everyone to the floor. It would rapidly change directions and come to sudden stops or sharp turns.

“I’m going up to see what’s going on!” said Dave  
“I’ll come with you,” said Dirk “you guys, find somewhere safe!”

Dave and Dirk flashstepped to the hatch, and stuck their heads up to see what was going on.  
“What the fuck is that?” asked Dave, staring wide-eyed at the thing that was chasing them. Whatever it was, it was huge. It was bigger than the ship. It was way bigger than the ship! It roared when it saw Dave and Dirk’s heads.

“I have no fucking clue,” said Dirk, letting a little bit of fear creep into his voice “whatever it is, apparently it wants to kill us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp*  
> Is that...?!  
> SORT OF A PLOT?!
> 
> You will find out what this monster is in the next chapter.


	18. Attack on Gold Ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am the biggest dick in the world.  
> This chapter is mean. It's really mean.

It was hard for the group of humans and trolls to find anywhere ‘safe’. Furniture was moving and falling over everything, and shards of porcelain and glass were sliding everywhere and getting caught in the carpets. John made a big windy-bubble and ushered everyone inside. The debris from the ship would fly at the bubble, but would get pushed back by the wind.

“What do you think’s happening?” asked Rose, she watched at the place they called home was violently destroyed.  
“I dunno,” said John nervously

Dave and Dirk came flying out of the hallway, the two of them talking at the same time, babbling about some big green monster.  
“What?” asked John “What’s it look like?”

The two brothers squeezed into the wind-bubble “It was like a skeleton, a snake, and a bird all has this weird green baby that grew up and decided it wanted to come in like a wrecking ball,” said Dave. Dirk swatted him over the head for the shitty pop-culture reference.

“Wait… That sounds like a--”

The ship was suddenly tossed aside, throwing everyone around. The ship tumbled through the air, making John lose his focus and the protective bubble shattered, tossing everyone into the fray. The ship suddenly stopped moving, as though someone had grabbed it.

There was a roar from outside, causing vibrations to tremble through the ship. Something crashed into its side, causing another jolt and then it fell still. They could all still hear a strange kind of inhuman grumbling and growling coming from outside.

John looked up from where he was laying. He could feel blood trickling down his forehead. There was some glass lodged in his leg and bruises everywhere. He looked around at his friends, and saw they were no better than him. 

Dave, Rose and Roxy looked like they had been knocked unconscious, all three of them sporting their own injuries. Kanaya was injured, but she was trying to wake Rose. Dirk was… Nowhere to be seen. Where was he? Gamzee was…

“Gamzee?” croaked John. He crawled over to his Moirail. Gamzee was curled up in a ball and shaking “G-” John winced form the pain in his leg. He was going to have to remove that glass “Gamzee, what’s wrong?”

Gamzee looked up at him. Oh no…

One of Gamzee’s horns had been snapped in half and he was clutching the broken piece, and shaking horribly.  
“Oh god… Gamzee, are you okay?” asked John

“N- Noo…” Gamzee could barely form sentence, he was in far too much pain “I- it… hu- it hurts!” he whispered. Pastel purple tears were once again flowing down his cheeks. John pulled him into a hug.

“Shhhh… You’re going to be okay. It’s going to be okay,” said John “I promise.”  
Gamzee shuddered in John’s arms, he clutched his shirt, as if he was scared John would disappear.

“Gamzee, I need to find Dirk,” said John, gently disengaging from Gamzee’s hold “I will be back, I promise. Help Kanaya get everyone somewhere safe.”  
Gamzee nodded, wiping the tears from his face. John got carefully to his feet. He tested out the leg with the glass in it.

That was such a bad idea. The weight he put on it set jots of pain up his spine. He took the weight off it immediately and used the wall as a crutch. He stumbled through the trashed hallways, looking for Dirk.

“Dirk?” he cried “Dirk! Where are you?!” he limped through more hallways till he found the door to the basement was wide open.  
“Dirk?!” he yelled into the basement. John was jittery and nervous. He wasn’t sure how long this still spell would last, and he didn’t know if they could survive another tumble like that.

John squinted in the darkness of the basement “Dirk? Are you down here?!”  
Suddenly Dirk flashstepped right in front of John’s face. John flinched “JESUS! Oh, there you are! Dirk, where were you? What are you doing?”

“We need to get off this ship,” said Dirk, moving around John’s head “I’m just getting supplies.” In Dirk’s arms were some bags, assorted weapons and some food.  
“Dirk! Kanaya and Gamzee can’t survive in space! They’re not God Tier!” cried John as Dirk ascended the rest of the stairs.

“Oh shit…” muttered Dirk. It was then that John noticed Dirk’s injuries. He was bruised as well, and his shades had a big crack going right down the middle of them. He had several cuts, and open gashes that were oozing blood.

“Dirk, you’re bleeding!” Cried John jumping up.  
Oh that was a bad idea.

“We’re all bleeding,” said Dirk, once he could properly see John. John swayed, he felt really dizzy. What the hell was going on? “Oh shit…”  
“What?” asked John

“John, you’ve got a huge-ass gash on your head! How are you still upright?” cried Dirk, dropping his supplies. He rushed to John, wrapping his arm around him to steady him.

“Wha?” asked John. His vision was going blurry. Dirk was saying something, but John couldn’t make it out.  
John wasn’t even scared when he felt the cold steal of Dirk’s katana slide through his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wOAH DIRK WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DID YOU JUST MURDER JOHN?!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> (yes)


	19. The Cherub

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh we're fucked aren't we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end of the story guys!  
> By the way, sorry this chapter is so short. I wanted to be dramatic ^^;

At first, it was just black. Then John saw the clock.

John would always remember what it was like to die in the Game. Seeing that clock endowed him with a sense of dread. Watching its hand tick back and forth between JUST and HEROIC was strangely horrifying and nerve-wracking. John shut his eyes. 

He didn’t want to see what it landed on.  
{}{---}{}

Dirk yanked his sword out of John’s chest, throwing it aside. He gathered the deceased boy in his arms, cradling him gently.  
“Please wake up please wake up please wake up,” he begged, holding John in his arms. His blood pooled underneath him and dripped from his back.

It was silent, aside from the faint grumbling coming from the beast outside. Dirk’s eyes began to well up. “You’d better wake up,” said Dirk in a shaking voice “I can’t lost you. Please!”

John’s skin began to glow, and a rainbow of colour exploded form his body, nearly blinding Dirk. Once the light was gone, Dirk looked down and saw that John was completely healed, and wearing his God Tier outfit.

He chuckled despite himself.

“John,” said Dirk, shaking his shoulders “John! Wake up!”  
{}{---}{}

There was the feeling of rushing upwards, and a feeling similar to that of when you’re swimming up and you’re face breaks the surface of the water, and suddenly John’s eyes were open.

He sat bolt upright “What happened?!” he cried, almost hitting Dirk when he sat up.

Dirk threw his arms around John.  
“Thank god,” he said.

“Wha-”

The Ship tumbled again, tossing Dirk and John onto the ceiling and back onto the floor.  
“Explanations later,” said Dirk “We need to stop that thing.”  
John nodded. They jumped into the air and flew for the hatch, but the ship kept moving around and they kept hitting the walls. They finally got to the hatch and flew out into space and saw…

“Oh fuck…” said John, staring at the creature.

The Cherub roared at John and Dirk, barring its huge teeth like lances. It’s black wings spread out behind it like dark horizons.  
John brought out the War Hammer of Zillyhoo “Get your strongest sword,” he said “you’re gonna need it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're going up against a Cherub.   
> Yes, they're totally screwed. No I won't tell you if they make it out. Yes there will be more angst involved.  
> And now you know.


	20. Rise of the Cherub

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit's getting serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O_O;

John launched himself into space, hammer at the ready. The cherub swung its arm at John, attempting to swat him away. John ducked under, the green flesh arm missing his head.  
He hit the Cherub as hard as he could on its shoulder. There was a small cracking noise and the thing roared. John felt his ears pop.  
Jesus fuck that was loud.

The cherub swung again, this time hitting John and flinging him into space.  
“JOHN!” Cried Dirk. John tumbled through space, showing no sign of slowing. Dirk only had a second to watch when the cherub’s fist came flying at the ship.  
Dirk raised his katana and stabbed the beast’s knuckles.

It roared again, taking its hand away. Red blood dripped from it’s wound like water from a tap.  
Dirk jumped into the air and flew up, attempting to make another hit. The Cherub let go of the ship, using both arms to try and catch him.  
{}{---}{}

John wasn’t sure which way was up or down or left or right. He hurt all over from that hit. He was pretty sure he’d broken some ribs and maybe some other bones. John tried to slow his tumbling, and soon he came to a full stop. He looked a head of him, but he couldn’t see the ship!

“What the fuck?” he turned around and saw the cherub and the ship were almost a spec on the endless spacey horizon.  
“How the hell did I fly this far?!” he cried. He righted himself and zoomed as fast as he could back to the ship.  
{}{---}{}

Dirk was trying to stab on of the Cherub’s eyes out. He was flying around its head, trying to get a good aim. So far he’d only managed to hit the sides of its face.

“FEIGN A LEFT HIT!” yelled a feminine voice. Dirk glanced behind him and saw Rose, floating a little ways behind him. He trusted what she said, as a Seer of Light she knew the best strategy. 

Dirk did as instructed, he flew to the left and the Cherub brought its hand up to swat him away, when Dirk darted to the right. Where the beast’s uncovered face lay bare. Dirk dug his sword into the beast’s eyes socket.  
It screeched bloody murder, and smacked Dirk, crushing him between the Cherub’s face and hand. He felt his bones snap.

“DIRK!”

When the Cherub moved its hand, Dirk felt himself fall. His katana slipped from his fingers, and his eyes began to close.  
He felt someone pick him up, and set him down on something cold.

“Roxy, you’re gonna have to kill him before he bleeds out,” said a frantic voice  
“What?!” cried a new voice “How do you know he’ll--”

“Just do it!”  
{}{---}{}

Rose equipped her needles. This Cherub was dead. She darted through the air and began stabbing whatever part of flesh she could come into contact with.  
The Cherub roared and screeched, trying to keep up with Rose, but its huge hands were too slow to catch the darting goddess. She made her way up to the creature’s head. She was going to stab the fuck out of its brainstem.

Assuming it had a brainstem.

She punctured the Cherub’s skin like paper, leaving huge gashes along its face and arms. It roared at her, swiping futilely at empty air where the goddess had been moments ago. her. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose noticed a small blue shape hurtling towards the ship.

It was John.

Rose weaved around the beast, to the front of its head to distract it. If John could get a solid hit to the back of its head, they might be able to knock it out and get away.  
{}{---}{}

When Rose threw Dirk’s katana into Roxy’s hands and ordered her to kill Dirk, she panicked. She wasn’t sure what to do, or why she was doing it.  
Why the fucking hell did she need to kill Dirk?! Rose never explained. What if Dirk didn’t come back? That would be her fault!

Oh god, he was bleeding excessively. The red pool was dripping off the side of the ship now. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and Roxy watched as the life was slowly drained from them.

Roxy felt herself beginning to cry. She lifted Dirk’s katana into the air. Jamming her eyes shut, she brought it down through Dirk’s chest.  
{}{---}{}

Dirk was vaguely aware of being stabbed. He didn’t really feel it. it was more like a pinch and then darkness.  
And then the clock.

Tick tocking away between the dreaded JUST and HEROIC deaths that Dirk Strider could possibly receive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was probably the meanest place to end this, wasn't it?


	21. Killing Friends Because of How Much You Love Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so emotional... You don't even know what you're in for.

John sped toward the ship at unprecedented speeds. He could see Rose was fighting now. Where was Dirk? John didn’t have time to think on it because behind the lurking beast there was a violent flash of rainbow light.

Someone died and apparently came back to life. John had a horrible feeling that it was Dirk. He sped faster. They needed to get away from here, from this fucking Cherub. John was almost there. he held his hammer at the ready, ready to clock that stupid green bird-thing in the head and fly the fuck away.  
{}{---}{}

Dirk sat bold upright. He was alive.

“Dirk? Holy shit, are you okay?” Roxy asked frantically.  
“Where’s my katana?” he asked, ignoring her question.  
Roxy practically threw it to him. It was covered in blood.

His blood.

Dirk also noticed he was now in his God Tier outfit, and felt a little bit embarrassed. He shook off his embarrassment and jumped into the air. Rose was fighting the Cherub alone, and Dirk would not stand for it.

Roxy equipped her machine gun as well, and the two of them joined Rose in her battle.  
{}{---}{}

John saw Roxy and Dirk flying around the Cherub as well. He internally giggled seeing Dirk in his god tier get up. He began formulating a plan, when the Cherub suddenly turned around and roared at John, making a swipe at him.

“HOLY SHIT!” John ducked it just it time, when his other arm came swinging around to try and hit him as well. John dodged it by shooting forward, and ending up way too close to the Cherub then he wanted to be. John gave himself one last boost of speed, rocketing upward. As he shot down, he was to weave around the Cherub’s arms, and bring his hammer down as hard as we could over the Cherub’s head. There was a sickening crack when the hammer met the skull

John quickly backed away. The Cherub swayed dangerously, and everyone who was near the Cherub backed away as well. Its eyes began to shut, and its body went limp.

“We need to get back on the ship,” said John “Now! Before anything else happens!”  
Everyone flew back to the deck, and the moment everyone’s feet were planted on the deck, the ship jerked to life and began moving once again, making everyone fall over from the sudden movement. The ship zoomed away from the Cherub, and it as soon a spec in space.

“AUUG!” cried John when he tried to land. He fell to the ground immediately, causing him to scream again.  
“Holy shit, John are you okay?” yelled Dirk, jumping to his feet after falling from the movement of the ship.

John groaned “I- I broke some bones I think,” he said, chuckling weakly, not bothering to move.  
Dirk gingerly picked John up “What’s broken?”

Rose and Roxy watched, unsure what to do or how to help.

John winced as Dirk picked him up “I don’t know! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW OKAY MY ARMS ARE BROKEN!” Cried John when Dirk tried to move his arms.  
“Shit, sorry,” muttered Dirk, laying John down “Could you two help? We need to get him downstairs and-”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to…” Rose stopped herself, looking away.  
“To what? Spit it would Lalonde,” said Dirk, desperate to get John out of pain.

“Well… When we die, we come back completely healed,” she said. She didn’t need to say anymore, Dirk knew what she was suggesting.  
“No,” said Dirk “I already had to do that once, and I do not want to do it again.”

“Then I’ll do it,” said Rose, her voice catching a little bit.  
“No! I can’t let you do that!” cried Dirk

“Look at him!” said Rose, gesturing to John, who Dirk had laid on his back “if we leave him like this he won’t be able to walk, or use his arms, maybe permanently.”  
John’s eyes widened behind his glasses. 

Dirk struggled for a counter argument. But he didn’t have one.

“John, what do you want?” asked Rose finally, looking down at her friend.  
John thought for a moment “I… I want to be able to move, I don’t think I could stand being like this,” he said “So… I guess… Yeah. I’ll let you do it.” John didn’t want to say ‘I’ll let you kill me’, it made the sentence sound ten times for scary.

“But, Dirk,” he said, looking up at the blonde.  
Dirk crouched down to look at John “Yeah?” he asked softly

“You don’t have to do it,” he said “Let Rose do it.”  
“No,” said Dirk “no. I’ll do it.”

“Dirk-”

Dirk put a find over his lips “Shh. Just close you’re eyes, okay?” he asked in the most comforting voice he could muster up.  
Rose and Roxy both felt like they were intruding upon something private.   
Something intimate.

“We’ll… Be down stairs to check on everyone,” said Rose, ushering Roxy downstairs.  
John and Dirk looked into each other’s eyes for a moment before John said

“I’m scared.”

Dirk felt his heart tug “I know,” he said softly “me too. But you’ll be fine. You’ll wake up, and feel a hell of a lot better then you do now.”  
John smiled weakly “Yeah.”

Dirk smiled “Alright, close your eyes. I don’t want you to watch this,” said Dirk, his hand on the side of John’s face, his thumb moving back and forth on his cheek.  
John closed his eyes, and Dirk sighed a little. He took his hand from John’s cheek, and looked for hit heart in his chest. He wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible. He stood, grabbing his katana and raising it into the air

“Hey Dirk,” said John, just as Dirk was about to bring it down.  
“Yeah?”

“In case this somehow fails, and I don’t come back,” said John, his voice wavering a little.  
“Don’t say that,” said Dirk “Please, just don’t.”  
“I know! But… Just in case,” said John, his eyes still closed, “I want you to know, that… That I love you, okay?”

Dirk’s jaw tightened, and his eyes began to water ever so slightly. He gritted his teeth and brought the sword through John’s heart, killing him instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like a horrible person for writing this over emotional bullshit.  
> But hey, I get to watch my audience squirm so it's all worth it.


	22. Starry eyes and watchful skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmm??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are sooo close tot he ending.

John came back to life, just as expected. He was completely healed, his bones were back in place and all the injuries he had sustained were completely gone.  
Dirk offered John his hand to help him up. John took it and dragged himself to his feet.

His chest hurt where Dirk’s sword had gone through.  
“You all right?” asked Dirk softly.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

There was a short stretch of silence before:  
“Me too…” muttered Dirk, his cheeks flushing.

“Huh?”

“I… Iloveyoutoo,” he whispered quickly, his face turning bright red.  
John didn’t need Dirk to repeat himself. He took Dirk’s hand in his own and smiled.

“Let’s go check on everyone,” he said softly.  
Dirk nodded.  
{---}{}{---}

The ship was a mess. Roxy, Rose, and Kanaya were trying to help Dave and Gamzee. Dave was still out from earlier, and Gamzee seemed to have passed out for either shock or pain.

“John! There you are!” said Kanaya “You need to help Gamzee, he won’t wake up and he need his Moirail! We’ve patched him up as best we could, took out any glass that he might have been impaled by and such,” rambled Kanaya in a fearful voice “but-”

John nodded raising as had to cut her off. He let go of Dirk’s hand and rushed over to Gamzee.  
“Dirk,” said Rose in a worried voice “Dave isn’t waking up either. He’s breathing, but his pulse has slowed beyond what I think is healthy.”

Dirk gulped “Well, it’s not like we have anything to worry about,” he said weakly “he’ll come right back.”  
Rose gave Dirk a scathing look “That doesn’t mean he’s not in pain. We need to wake him up.”  
{}{---}{}

Gamzee was still clutching his broken horn. His painted eyes were jammed shut, and he was curled into a tight ball. John placed a hand on his side and shook lightly.  
“Gam?” he whispered, “Gamzee, you gotta wake up!”

Gamzee whimpered.

“Gamzee, I know you’re in pain,” said John “But you need to wake up, please! We want to help you!”  
One of Gamzee’s eyes lulled open, looking blearily at John.

“’S it over?” he whispered  
“Yeah,” said John “It’s all over.”

Gamzee sits up, looking at John through tears stained eyes. He sniffled, and reached over to pull John into a hug.  
“Shoosh,” said John, papping Gamzee’s back “it’s okay.”

Gamzee shudders a little, before pulling back and nodding.  
{}{---}{}

It’s obvious that Dave is not doing too good. He’s breathing slowly and steadily (thank god), but as Rose said his heartbeat was painfully slow,  
“Dave,” said Dirk “bro, wake up.”

Dirk was fully awake that he just called Dave ‘bro’ and at the moment, Dave might as well have been his actual Bro, and he was losing him all over again.  
“C’mon, man,” said Dirk “we have shit to do, you gotta wake up,” Dirk place his hand on Dave’s shoulder shook him slightly. Dave eyes shot open and he cried out in pain.

“OH HOLY SHIT THAT HURTS!” he yelled, jerking away from Dirk. John and Gamzee both spun around to face the sudden burst of noise.  
“Whoa… Sorry,” said Dirk “is your shoulder broken?”

“I can’t move it,” said Dave, a scared expression overcoming his pained one “oh shit I can’t move my arm.”  
“I think you might have dislocated it,” said Rose

Dave’s eyes went wide “Oh hell no,” he muttered “No no no no no no no no no no no--”  
“We’re going to have to relocate it,” Rose’s voice cut through Dave’s repeated denial.

“Do you even know how to do that properly?” asked Dave in a high voice “No! You don’t! You could… I dunno, fuck up my arm even more! So no!”  
“Dirk, could you hold him down?” asked Rose nonchalantly as if she were asking for the weather.

“What?!” Dave practically screamed it.

John couldn’t help but snigger  
“Oh shut it Egbert!” yelled Dave in a much harsher tone then he meant to use.

“Hey!” cried John “I’ve died twice today, you need to man the fuck up and quit whining!” he snapped  
Dave stared, half in bewilderment and half in (what the author could only describe as) fear “You died?”

Dirk took advantage of this momentary calm, to help Rose by pinning Dave to the ground “Lalonde if you would be so kind as to help my brother?” he asked as Dave wiggled under him. Rose took hold of Dave’s shoulder

“No wait, wait ,wait, I’m not re-hOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!” he screamed as Rose pushed his shoulder back into place.  
He whimpered, nursing his shoulder. Gamzee held his horn fragment in his hands, looking at it mournfully. John sat back, gazing at the scene. He sighed and stood up.

“I need a break,” he said to no one. He walked up to the deck at sat at the hull of the ship. He let all of the air escape out of his lungs, and rested his chin in his palm.  
John was growing tired of this ship and all the awful things that kept happening on it. He looked up into the spacey sky, when something caught his eye.

He looked at it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t moving. It sat directly in front of the ship, millions of miles away. John studied it, squinting his eyes to try and get a better look at it. It was round. But then again everything looked round from far away. He couldn’t discern what colour it was either.

But judging by the trajectory of the ship, they were heading right for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to hear what you guys think the thing is.  
> I really do.  
> Because you'll never guess correctly. You never will.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short chapter! Sorry, but yeah. It's short.

“Guys, I think this ship is flying us all to our deaths.”

Everyone whipped around to look at John and the morbid thing he had just suggested.  
“What?” asked Rose in an incredulous voice.

“Hey, I don’t like it either,” said John defensively “but… Yeah. I think the ship is going to try and kill us all.”  
“Why on earth do you say that?” she asked

John lead Rose, Dirk, and Roxy (Dave didn’t feel like moving) up to the deck “You see that?” he asked, pointing to the far off spec of light “whatever it is, we’re heading right for it.”

“You think it’s a star,” said Rose. It wasn’t a question, because she thought it was a star too.  
"Yeah," said John.

“Is it though?” asked Roxy, nervously, staring up at the dot in the ‘sky’.  
“What else would it be?” asked Rose. her voice had dawned a defeated, and melancholy tone. Much like the one she used shortly before she went Grimdark.

“I dunno! But… Why would the ship try to kill us?” she asked, fidgeting with her hands.  
Rose massaged her eyes with her thumb and forefinger “Maybe because the Game’s resetting.”

“What?” asked Dirk, speaking up for the first time “what do you mean? If it were resetting then we would--”

“No, we wouldn’t be with everyone,” interrupted Rose, in an angry tone that both surprised and confused everyone “When a game resets, it erases all existing data to make way for the new players.” She looked back at her friends “we are the existing data, and that" she pointed at the dot in the horizon, "is the ‘yes’ button on the ‘are you sure you want to erase all your game data’ screen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aren't I just the meanest author?


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the Chapter are going to pretty short for a little while, I hope that's alright.  
> But since they're short that means they'll be made quicker, at least ^^;

“Well? What is it?” asked Dave when everyone came back down. No one wanted to answer, so Dirk spoke up.

“We think the Game is resetting,” he said shortly.  
“Isn’t that a good thing?” he asked, “You know, earth comes back and everyone killed by the Games come back as well, right? So why do you all look so somber?”

“No,” said Rose “no it isn’t.”  
“What do you mean, it isn’t?” asked Kanaya

“The Game is erasing the existing data,” said Rose “Us. It’s flying us into a star.”  
“We don’t know that!” interjected John “it could be anything!”

“What else would it be, John?” snapped Rose “what else is in space aside from stars, planets, black holes, and the occasional green space monster?”

John faltered.

“Don’t snap at him,” said Dirk, frowning at Rose.  
Rose’s jaw tightened “I apologize,” she said “The last time we faced futility I did not take it very well.”

The tension immediately rose. Everyone (except Dirk and Roxy) remembered Rose’s time as Grimdark.  
“Please do not do anything irrational,” said Kanaya gently, placing her hand on Rose’s arm.

“I know, I know,” she said.

“So… What are we going to do?” it was the first time Gamzee had really spoke to anyone aside from John. His question hung in the air like a dead spider from a web.  
No one knew how to answer. No one felt like they could. There was nothing to do.

They could leave, but at what cost? There were two people here who couldn’t go into space. They could stay and take the chance that they were flying into a star and risk dying with the trolls.

Those were the options.

“We don’t know,” said Dirk simply “We just don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's hard being a god and facing death.  
> it's hard and nobody understands.


	25. Friend fights

The next few days were filled with tension and silence. Everyone spent most of their time avoiding one another. No one was sure what to do, or say. They weren’t sure of they should be saying their good-byes or packing their bags or just not doing anything.

John felt like he had to do something, but he didn’t know what. He wanted to help his friends, but they could be dead in a few days, so how the hell was he supposed to help?

John was sitting on the floor in his room, looking at some old photos back from when he was on his three year journey with Jade and Davesprite. He smiled nostalgically, those were the good days, weren’t they? 

He missed Davesprite, he hoped that if the ship was going to kill them that he got to see Davesprite one last time.  
A knock came at his door, waking him from his nostalgia.

“Hey, Egderp,” Dave opened the door and slid in.  
“Oh, hey Dave,” said John, looking up from the photos “What’s up?”

He shrugged and sat beside him “not much. What’cha looking at?” Dave peeked over John’s shoulders to see the photos “Oh.”  
“What?” asked John, hearing the sudden change in Dave’s tone.

“What?”

“Don’t you ‘what’ me, Dave Strider,” said John “I heard your tone. What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing,” said Dave. Now John could practically see Dave’s tone.

“Dave… Seriously. What’s up?” he asked flatly.  
Dave glanced at the photos.

“What, is it Davesprite?” he asked.  
Dave looked away.

“Dave,” said John “Davesprite isn’t you, okay?” he said “Davesprite is his own person. He’s not a replacement.”  
“All the photos say otherwise,” muttered Dave, looking anywhere but John.

“Excuse me?!” asked John taken quite aback “Why are you being such a prick?”  
“Why are you being so condescending?” snapped Dave

“I was trying to help you,” snarled John  
“Yeah, well you fucked up!” yelled Dave. He jumped to his feet and stormed out, leaving John angry and confused.

“ASSHOLE!” he yelled. John threw his photos away from him, and tugged his knees up to his chest, willing his eyes to stay dry.  
He couldn’t do this. John got to his feet and stumbled out of his room

Lately, John had been going above deck to stare at the spacey horizon. It helped calm him down, and right now it was exactly what he needed. He ran up the stairs and up onto the deck, staring up at the sky with misty eyes.

He wanted to scream. He was angry and sad and confused and he wanted nothing more than to get off this ship. He rubbed his eyes, which (despite his will) were leaking water like old pipes. 

John always went to the back of the ship so he didn’t have to see the looming dot/star/black hole thing. But right now, he didn’t care. He went to the front and sat down. He looked up, letting the numerous stars and galaxies cloud his vision. He took a shakey breath and looked up to the spot where their destination lay.  
It was a lot closer today. He looked at it for a moment. He could tell what colour it was now… It was pink.

Wait… Pink?

Stars weren’t generally pink, were they?  
Or round. Not that round anyway. Whatever it was, it was perfectly round and pink.  
Stars weren’t round and pink, stars were all jaggedly and blinding. This… whatever it was, was giving off a light glow instead of a harsh light.  
John squinted at it, what the hell could it be.

It suddenly hit him.

It hit him like a sledgehammer wielded by Hercules on steroids. John knew exactly what that was, and it was no star.

 

That was a Dream Bubble, and by the looks of it, it was huge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been waiting for this part for FOREVER.


	26. Dreaming Tears

John flew down into the ship, yelling at the top of his lungs

“GUYS! GUYS GUYS GUYS! EVERYBODY GET UP! WE’RE NOT GOING TO DIE HOLY SHIT! GUUUUUUYS!” He was nearly screaming it. Everyone came stumbling out of their hiding places to find out what the hell John was yelling about.

“John! JOHN! Calm down,” cried Kanaya, catching him by the foot and stopping him in mid air “What’s going on?”  
“Get everyone together,” said John, his voice was shaking from excitement “The best news ever is upon us!” he shook out of her grip and races through the halls, calling everyone together.

It didn’t take long for everyone to get together, the y were all confused and shaken up by John’s yelling.  
“John, what the hell is going on?” asked Dirk, who had been trying to calm John down while they waited for everyone to come, but it was no use. He was jittery and excited and he couldn’t stop grinning.

“Okay, so you know the star?” he asked  
“What about it?” asked Rose.

“It’s not a star,” John could hardly get the words out, he was too excited “It’s a dream bubble.”

At first there was a very long pause, then everyone who could survive in space raced up above deck at look and see if John was right.  
They all stared at it for a moment. It was much closer than it had been when John first saw it, like they had gained speed in the last ten minutes. It was about the size of someone’s hand now, though it was obviously still very far away.

“You’re right,” said Rose quietly “Oh my god you’re right!” she threw her arms around John pulling him into a hug.  
John laughed “Rose, what are you doing? We would’ve found out it was a Dream Bubble even with out me.”

Rose didn’t say anything, she just kept hugging John. When she let go, her eyes were misty.  
“So, who do you think is there?” asked Dirk

“Who knows,” said Dave “I just hope it’s someone we know.”  
“Yeah,” said Roxy “wouldn’t it be great if our parents were there?”

“And the trolls?”

“And the other humans?”

They all began to daydream about who they hoped would be there when they finally reached the Bubble. Eventually thy had to go down stairs and tell the trolls it was indeed a Dream Bubble, and it looked like they’d be reaching it in a few days.


	27. Taking pictures

Everyone was packing.

They were throwing their stuff into bags and whatever could hold things and getting ready to leave. They decided that once they got to the Dream Bubble, they’d all get out no matter where they landed.

No one really wanted to be on this ship any longer.  
John looked through his old room. He wanted to take everything with him, but he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to, after all this had been his home for three years.

He sighed deciding he’d just take all the photographs instead. Those were good enough memories. He went around the ship, gathering all the photos off the walls.  
“Oh hey, there you are!”

John turned to find Dirk walking up to him  
“Oh hey!” he said, “What’s up?”

“I… I was totally going to ask you something but I forgot what to was,” laughed Dirk, “Jesus, I guess I’m over excited to get off of this hunk of metal.”  
“Yeah, me too,” you say, taking another photo.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” said Dirk “Why are all the photos kept up with tape and tacks? I haven’t seen a single picture frame since I got on this ship.”  
John chuckled “We could never figure out the codes for frames, so we had to use tape.”

Dirk smiled “I guess that makes sense.”  
The two of them fell silent for a moment while John took the photos from the walls.

“So, who do you think we’ll see?” asked Dirk  
“I… I dunno. I’m really nervous about it,” said John, turning around to face Dirk, leaning against the wall.

“Why?”

“I’m scared to have to explain all the new relationships,” he said “Like, if we run into Jake, what the fuck am I going to say? Or Karkat? He and Gamzee were Moirails for a long time, and now…” he sighed, lifting his face up to the ceiling. “I’m so bad at explaining things.”

Dirk leaned his head on John’s shoulder “You’ll be fine. I’ll do the explaining if you want.”  
John chuckles “We’ll do it,” he paused for dramatic effect “together!” he swept his hands out, skyward and used a very melodramatic voice.

Dirk sniggered “sure thing.”

“Will you help me with the photos? I’m going to be here forever if I go by myself.”  
Dirk turned his head and kissed the side of John’s head “Of course.”


	28. Chapter 28

Everyone was packed, and getting antsy. The ship was filled with nervous energy, and it ever even worse than when it was filled with angst.  
John had been comforting Gamzee over the loss for his horn. They had drilled a small hole threw its base and put it on a string. Gamzee wore the makeshift necklace everyday. He’d gotten even quieter than he’d been before. He now spoke solely to John, or else not at all.

John had been going up to watch the Bubble get closer.

In fact what was what he was doing. John walked up the stairs to the door leading out to the deck. He paused at the door.  
He took a breath then threw the door open. The Bubble Loomed over the ship. It was huge! They were only a mile or so away! John could fly to it!

John stared in awe at it. The Bubble was humongous, it was like all the Dream Bubbles had converged into one!  
He zoomed back down the stairs

“Guys! Guys we’re almost there!” he yelled giddily, “get your stuff ready!”  
Rose came practically out of nowhere “how close are we?” she asked

“We’re like a mile away,” he said grinning. Rose ran into her room, grabbing her bag  
“I’m going to be up on deck when he enter!” She said as she ran passed him.

John ran into his room and grabbed his bag. He took one last look around his old room. No use in denying it, he’d miss this place.  
He sighed and walked out, taking a last look at the ship. He ran his hand along the walls

“Saying good-bye?”

John turned and found Dirk standing behind him.  
He chuckled “Yeah.”

The two of them walk down the halls. Dirk stayed silent, letting John say good-bye to his old home. Soon enough, they found themselves in front of the door leading to the upper deck.

“You ready?”

John nodded, smiling weakly and taking Dirk’s hand “just barely.”  
Dirk chuckled and the two of them walked up the stairs. They pushed the door open and walked up onto the deck.

The Dream Bubble loomed over them. John had to physically move his head up to see it all.

“Whoa…”

“Yeah,” said Dirk “I think this is the biggest Dream Bubble I have ever seen.”  
“Yeah…” breathed John.

“Hey.”

John looked down and found Dave standing before him.  
“Can… I talk to you?” he asked. He glanced at Dirk. He caught said glance.

“I’ll be over there,” he said.

Dave was silent for a moment, like he was trying to figure out what to say.  
“So… about earlier,” he started “I… I’m sorry I exploded,” he said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Can I ask why you exploded?” asked John, not sure if he forgave Dave yet.  
Dave glanced at the Dream Bubble “Yeah… I mean, it’s a free country and all.”

John chuckled “You know what I mean Dave.”  
He sighed “Well… I guess… Ever since we got on this boat… and I saw all those photos on the walls of you and Davesprite, I guess I felt like…”

John realized that this was actually hard for the coolkid to say, and suddenly he felt like once he heard whatever it was Dave was going to say, he would have to carry it to his grave.

“I felt like… I’d never be as good a friend as him… You know?” he said quietly, not looking at John “you know? I mean, he saved you life, he spent three years with you, and he probably knows more about you than I do anymore… So… Yeah.”

John wrapped his arms around his bro. He didn’t even care that it wasn’t cool. Fuck being cool, even insufferable cool pricks need hugs.  
“Dave, it’s like I said,” said John as he pulled out of the hug “you and Davesprite are two people. You just look the same. In some aspects he will never measure up to you in friendship, and in others it’s vice versa, but that’s true with all friends,” said John smiling at his friend “You’re still my best bro.”

Dave dropped his coolkid act and smiled. It was weak and watery, like he was out of practice, but to John it meant the world.  
“So. We good?”  
“We good.”

The Fist Bunped, and both walked back over to Dirk.  
“Soo… How was your talk?” he asked

“Fuck you,” said Dave “that shit’s personal.”  
John sniggered.

“Hey! We’re about to enter the Bubble!” yelled Roxy in an excited voice “EVERYBODY GET READY!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!   
> John and Dave are cool again!


	29. reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I haven't updated in years.
> 
> I'M SO SORRRRYYYYY D:

John jammed his eyes closed as they went through the wall of the Bubble, grabbing Dirk’s hand. There was a rush of cold air.

“We’re through,” he said gently, “you can open your--” he stopped talking midway through his sentence.  
John opened his eyes in curiosity, “What is i--” he stopped as well. 

In front of the ship was a huge crowd of people, milky-eyed and oddly dressed. Humans and trolls stood together, waving and yelling to the people on the ship. The old ship came to rest a little ways in front of the crowd, as it landed Gamzee and Kanaya came out, and they too, stared in amazement at what they saw.

Everyone was there. Every single person they had lost in the Game stood before them, waving and yelling. All ten of the trolls were there (including twelve other John didn’t recognize except for the fish troll who liked to stab him a lot). 

All the humans who had died were there, and waving up at them, smiling.  
John felt his chest tighten. Jade stood in front of everyone, jumping up and down, half yelling and half barking at the top of her lungs. Her voice rose above that of the crowds’ and John heard her yell:

“Well, what are you waiting for?! Get down here!”

There was a mad dash of trolls and gods, all scrambling to get off the ship and into the arms of their fallen friends. John lost Dirk in the dash, but he knew where he was going.

John, Rose, and Dave all practically tackled Jade, all trying to hug her at once.

Kanaya and Gamzee ran into the huge crowd of trolls waiting for them. Multi-coloured tears were shed all over the place.

Dirk and Roxy ran to Jake and Jane, mercilessly hugging the life out of them.  
Out of the corner of his eye, John noticed a certain golden sprite hanging back from the group.

“Davesprite?!” John almost yelled it. He ran over to Davesprite and threw himself at the Sprite.  
“Whoa John, hey,” said Davesprite “calm your tits. There’s more than enough Strider to go around.”

John laughed and hugged his friend tighter.

Soon the humans and the trolls began exchanging hugs and tears. Introductions were made and new allies aquired.  
“John,” said Jade as he spoke to Karkat “there something you need to see! Dave, you two! And you, Rose! In fact, bring the Alpha guys as well!”  
Jade led the small group of humans to the back of the crowd

“Close your eyes,” she instructed, a grin spreading across her mouth.

The trolls watched as the humans all closed their eyes.  
“Alright,” said Jade “you all can come out now! And you all can open your eyes.”

When John opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his father.   
There were other adults, there were two tall thin women standing together and two other guys with shades and another guy who looked a lot like his dad, but John knew his father when he saw him.

There was a collective scream from the human children, and then they all rushed into the arms of their guardians.  
John flung himself into his father’s arms

“Dad! You’re alive!” he cried into his father’s shoulder, the familiar smell of tobacco and shaving cream began making his eyes water “I thought I’d never see you again!” he sobbed.

Dad stroked his son’s hair “It’s okay,” he said “I’m here now.”  
John had never been happier than he was at this moment, despite how hard he was crying.


End file.
